


Savior Complex

by MyrsineMezzo



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged Up, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Basically everyone except Aang, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, He's just not in this really, Katara transitions from prisoner to badass, Zuko is a conflicted turtle duck, Zuko/Mai - Freeform, pro-Aang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:15:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28343007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyrsineMezzo/pseuds/MyrsineMezzo
Summary: Aang refused to let Katara go and couldn’t enter the Avatar state in the battle for the Earth Kingdom at the end of Book Two, leading to disastrous results. With the Avatar gone and Katara held prisoner, how will she ever find her way back to her people, let alone find a way to defeat the Fire Lord? Gathering her strength and her allies, she launches herself into an adventure that takes her across the world with the intent of toppling the Fire Lord's empire once and for all. For his part, Zuko must reckon with his betrayal of his uncle at Ba Sing Se and come to terms with turning against his father and his family if he is truly to become the man he wants to be.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 52
Kudos: 81





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, all! I’m new to this fandom, having just finished the show for the second time and started reading the comics. I couldn’t resist writing something, particularly something Zutara-centric. The idea came to me when I thought for sure that Aang would only abandon his love for Katara over his dead body at the end of Book Two. So. Y’know. Avatar fic without Aang ensues. (Don’t get me wrong, I love Aang. I just wanted to play with what might have happened.) Of course this is a massive AU divergence where elements of Book Three happen, but in a different order and in a completely different way. I don’t think it’s particularly dark, just a “what if” vibe with Zutara as endgame. Also, Books One and Two were over the span of a few years, so they’re a little older than in the show. Thanks for giving this a shot, and I’m looking forward to hearing what you think of it!
> 
> ETA: This is going to be a slow burn, primarily because I want to avoid problematic topes while Katara is stuck in the Fire Nation. And let's be honest, they have a long way to go to get to even being friends, let alone lovers...

_I’m sorry, Katara…_

_But I’ll never let you go._

Aang’s last words rang like a litany through Katara’s waking and sleeping mind. The words were always accompanied by the image of her friend reaching his hand towards her before Azula speared a bolt of lightning straight through his chest. It had seemed as if his fall to the ground happened in slow motion, the shock to Katara’s own system had been so great. The precious few seconds where she could have escaped or at least tried to get revenge against Azula or Zuko had passed by in a haze as she’d raced to Aang’s side and cradled his face in her hands. 

“Get up, Aang. _Breathe_ , Aang.” 

She’d willed him to do both of those things or anything at all. But he had remained still. 

As tears began to slide down her face, she became aware of rough hands on her shoulders as Dai Li agents pulled her hands away from Aang and locked them in stone behind her back.

Then Azula’s voice behind her had cut straight through her mental fog as if setting it ablaze.

“Well done, Zuko. The Earth Kingdom is ours. Father will be so pleased.”

At that, Katara had thrashed and fought. It had been far too late, but she couldn’t bear to listen to those smug words. She likewise couldn’t bear to even turn to see the triumphant look that must be on Zuko’s traitorous face, either. He was supposed to have joined them. He was supposed to have felt the bond over the shared loss of their mothers in the same way Katara had felt it. It seemed like their heart-to-heart conversation had only been moments earlier. 

Instead, he’d betrayed her and destroyed any fledgling trust she’d placed in him.

“How did it all go so wrong?” Katara whispered to herself as she sat before an ornate golden mirror in her lavishly-appointed room in the Fire Nation palace. The room was nothing more than a glorified cell, and she still had no clue as to why she wasn’t rotting behind metal bars with only rats for companions and soldiers to taunt her. She only expected cruelty and deviousness from the Fire Nation. It was all she’d ever known from them, after all. Without exception. She snuffed out any sympathy or kindred feeling for a certain prince who had once seemed as if he would prove to be that exception.

For two days now, she had been in the Fire Nation capital with nothing to explain what they wanted from her. It had been an arduous journey from the Earth Kingdom in a locked metal transport and then finally an airship. When she’d seen the Fire Nation capital come into view, she’d looked away, unable to stomach seeing the palace where their ultimate enemy lurked.

An enemy who must be feeling as if he had finally won--and won big--with the death of her dearest friend. 

Katara had felt sick from the thought. She still did.

Whatever they planned for her, her captors definitely took her abilities into consideration. They were careful to never leave any water or even tea nearby unless handed to her by one of her ladies-in-waiting, Xuě and Lin, who had introduced themselves with a deference verging on mockery. Katara knew it couldn’t be anything but that, since the Fire Nation’s contempt for herself and her people were well-known. 

The first time she’d accepted an elegant porcelain cup filled with jasmine tea from Lin, she’d tried to turn the liquid into a scalding water whip. The twin fireballs flying at her face evaporated that idea as quickly as it had evaporated the water in the air around her. Bowing and smirking slightly after the demonstration, the ladies had waited for her to sit back down as if nothing had happened. When they’d poured a second cup and handed it to her, she’d taken it meekly, hoping they would think all her hope had been quashed with that one demonstration.

But Katara wasn’t about to give up so easily. She had more escape attempts planned if an opportunity would only present itself. As it was, she currently felt a little at a loss despite those plans. Even if she could somehow break out of the room surrounded by firebending ladies in waiting and the guards who lurked outside, there was a whole palace and an entire unknown country to navigate if she was going to find what remained of her friends and family. Managing to do all those things without being recaptured seemed improbable. 

Defeating the Fire Lord without Aang seemed nigh impossible.

She sighed, and Xuě spoke up in what was probably meant to be a soothing voice that instead set Katara’s teeth on edge.

“More tea, my lady?”

“No, thank you,” Katara gritted out.

“We could comb your hair,” Lin offered. “Or read to you from one of the Fire Lord’s edifying treatises on the joys of advancing Fire Nation culture.”

“You mean his propaganda, more like it!” Katara snapped.

The small quirk of Lin’s mouth spoke volumes about how she’d hoped Katara would rise to the bait.

She knew she sounded weary as she demanded, “Just leave me alone, would you?”

The two bowed deeply. “As you wish,” Xuě replied. They left her and pointedly took the teapot and cups with them. There would be no freezing the locks or hacking at the doors, then. 

The windowless room seemed to close in around her. Katara felt like taking her frustrations out on all the plush pillows scattered throughout the room or on the silk hangings that covered the walls emblazoned with the Fire Nation symbol. That accursed symbol had been stamped relentlessly throughout the room. It was as if they meant to bludgeon her thoughts themselves into submission. Unfortunately for the Fire Nation, all their attempts to dampen her spirits just added fuel to her inner fire. The irony of that thought made her smile turn grim. 

She absolutely refused to give in or to give up on hope. A way out would present itself. She just had to be patient enough to recognize it. Meanwhile, she could set her mind to figuring out why they hadn’t thrown her into their deepest, darkest hole or killed her on the spot.

“There must be a reason to keep me here,” Katara muttered. “But what is it?”

Getting up, she pushed the train of her silk Fire Nation robe to the side before shrugging it off entirely. She was left wearing a heavy dress in multiple shades of red and black that covered her from toe to neck in a similar style to the knife-throwing girl who had chased her and her friends alongside Azula. She had a feeling it must be the “Lady Mai” her ladies in waiting would sigh over as being a hero of the nation and the pinnacle of nobility and fashion.

Katara made a face before shaking out her arms and legs and dropping into the stance to begin practicing her waterbending forms. She may not have any actual water to work with, but that didn’t mean she wanted to get rusty on her movements. The time would come when she would need every ounce of her bending ability and talent to be at her beck and call. 

Yes. She would need her power at its peak if she was going to help the new Avatar. The new _waterbender_ Avatar.

Katara’s thoughts flowed through her mind as her arms and legs flowed through her stances and poses. It was true. There would have to be a new Avatar. Aang hadn’t died while in the Avatar state, and everyone knew it was time in the cycle for him to be reborn into a different culture’s element. Her element. If she was going to teach the new hope of the world itself, she needed to be a true Master of her element. Of her surroundings. Of her fate.

With a deep breath, she swirled her hands into the pose that she would normally use to send water rushing from a river out of its banks and flooding towards whatever enemy she had in her sights. Someday soon she would once more feel the water trickle and rush between her fingers like cool strands and sheets of silk. She just had to be patient.

What could have been hours later for all she knew, a gentle knock on the door heralded the return of her ladies in waiting. Katara groaned and dropped her weary limbs to her sides. As the door opened, she heard one of them say to the other from outside the room, “—as if anything else were to be expected from a Water Tribe traitor. He’ll regret his outburst soon enough.”

Katara faltered and almost tripped over her own two feet. A fellow Water Tribe prisoner? It could only be Sokka! She’d been pushing her worry for him deep down, convinced that he must have escaped with Toph and Momo aboard Appa. Why else hadn’t she heard a word about him? Not that they’d told her anything at all, really.

Her mind raced as she tried to calculate her brother into this new equation. Where were they keeping him? What were they doing to him, if anything? How could she rejoin him? 

So many questions with so few answers.

Lin and Xuě finally entered, giving her their usual and deeply-detested bows.

“What did you say about a Water Tribe prisoner?” Katara demanded without giving either one a chance to speak.

The two ladies exchanged a glance, and Katara wondered if she’d once more taken the bait they’d carefully placed for her. It didn’t matter if this was yet another of their subtle games. She needed to know what was happening to her brother.

“Is Sokka here? Tell me!” she exclaimed, practically stamping her foot for emphasis and looking to see if they had any tea she could send crashing to the ground or spouting into the air. She would give and do anything to know how he was doing. Anything.

“Please,” she trailed off in a small voice, and that show of helplessness—or even worse, hopelessness—seemed to be what they were waiting for.

Xuě bobbed her head. “Your brother, Prince Sokka, is also here. He has been…most unhelpful.”

Prince Sokka? The honorific almost made Katara laugh. Yes, they were the Southern Water Tribe Chieftain’s children, but the kind of deference associated with being a prince or a princess was frankly ridiculous in relation to her. And especially in relation to Sokka. She latched onto the rest of the lady’s words.

“What do you mean he’s being unhelpful? What’s going on, and how is he? Where is he?”

Lin gave an elegant shrug of her shoulders and said in a voice tinged with patently-false disappointment. “I’m afraid we can speak no more of this, my lady. A very important visitor is on his way to see you. We are simply here to prepare you for his arrival.”

Katara had a bad feeling about whoever the ladies would deem to be an important person.

“You seem to be ruffled, my lady,” Lin clucked. “How did your hair and clothes get so out of order in such a short time?”

They set about pushing her gently but insistently into the chair in front of the mirror. Xuě reached for a comb, and Katara snatched it away from her.

“Leave my hair alone,” she snapped.

Xuě stepped back. “As you wish.” Her hands were twisting in discomfort, though. Katara realized this must be someone they were afraid of displeasing, and her appearance would weigh in their favor or corresponding disfavor. She sighed and pulled the comb through her hair slowly, avoiding her hair loops and arranging the thick, flowing locks into smooth order down her back. 

Xuě’s tight expression eased.

Lin finished kneeling on the ground and straightening Katara’s sleeve. She climbed back to her feet as another knock sounded on the door.

“He’s here,” Xuě twittered. Twittered!

Katara grimaced and climbed to her own feet, feeling like a sparrowkeet about to face down a lion vulture she had so little to defend herself with. She basically had only the comb in her hand, and Lin was quick to divest her of that as well.

The ladies ushered her bodily out from behind the table to stand facing the door. Before anyone had even entered, they dropped into the deepest bows she could ever imagine anyone giving. The gesture was obviously filled with actual deference and respect this time.

“My lady,” Lin said. “May we present his Highness, the Crown Prince and Heir to the Fire Nation throne, Prince Zuko.” 

The formal address flowed easily from Lin’s mouth. Once she had finished, she nudged Katara surreptitiously with her shoulder as if indicating that Katara should be bowing.

Fat chance of that ever happening.

Katara glared as Zuko, His Horribleness, the Crown Prince of Traitors and Murderers walked into the room as if he owned the place. Which he kind of did.

The two stared each other down. Zuko’s golden eyes glowed in the lamplight like twin flames, their expression guarded. Katara knew her own eyes must look like ice chips carved from the heart of a South Pole glacier.

“Prince Zuko, may we present Princess Katara, daughter of the Chieftain of the Southern Water Tribe,” Xuě said, her bow going even deeper if that was humanly possible now that Zuko was in the room.

Katara couldn’t help but notice that she too had been upgraded to Princess just as Sokka had been upgraded to Prince. It would have been laughable if she didn’t feel so utterly serious right now.

“We will leave you both to your conversation,” Xuě continued. “If you will excuse us.”

The two remained in place another moment, waiting to be dismissed. Until Zuko opened his mouth to say only three brusque words.

“It’s Master Katara.”

“My prince?” Xuě asked, her voice sounding both confused and slightly terrified that he had actually deigned to respond.

“Her name is Master Katara. She is a waterbending Master, and she will be referred to as such with the respect due to her station and abilities.”

“Of—of course, my prince.” 

Lin and Xuě straightened, then turned as one to bow to Katara. 

“No disrespect intended, Master Katara,” Xuě said in a meek tone.

Katara simply nodded. She wanted this to be over, whatever this was. The Fire Nation’s stupid etiquette was the least of her worries right now.

Turning back to Zuko, the ladies inclined their heads as he said without a glance their way, “That will be all.”

The two bowed again and lingered in the pose a few moments longer before gliding towards the door. Katara likewise didn’t even bother watching to see if they made it outside the room. She only had eyes for the man who stood in front of her.

The man who had betrayed her and cost her everything she held dear.


	2. Chapter 2

Katara speared Zuko with her eyes as if she could make him squirm and beg for forgiveness if she just stared at him hard enough. For his part, Zuko's face was inscrutable as he dragged his eyes away from hers and scanned around the room before returning to rake his gaze over her form. He seemed to be taking in her Fire Nation dress.

“You look well. Are you comfortable here?” he asked abruptly.

“Like you care,” Katara scoffed. “I don’t even know why I’m in the palace instead of in some prison.”

Zuko gave a humorless laugh. “You’re a princess. Technically. The Fire Nation knows how to treat royalty and dignitaries. We’re not like you Water Tribe…” 

Peasants. He didn’t have to say the word. She knew he was probably thinking it. He’d said it to her before. Her hands balled into fists.

“…people,” he finished with a smirk.

Katara would have given anything for a water whip to smack that look off his face. Or maybe she could just freeze his mouth shut. Either way, it would have been incredibly satisfying.

“That’s not what I meant,” she said through gritted teeth. “Why am I _here_. I know you want something from me. I’m not an idiot.”

Zuko narrowed his eyes and muttered something under his breath that sounded an awful lot like, “You’re definitely something.”

“What was that?” she demanded.

“Nothing,” he snapped back.

Katara knew her ability to bicker with him wasn’t the reason the prince had come to see her. He seemed to be reminding himself of the same thing. Before she could try to steer the conversation around to Sokka the way she wanted to, he straightened his already stiff posture and opened his mouth. What came out of it was something she hadn’t been expecting.

“You know the North Pole and the South Pole.”

She looked at him like he was a few cabbages short of a bushel. “Of course I know the South Pole. That’s my home.” She couldn’t resist adding, “With the people in it you terrorized, remember?”

He ignored her question and persisted. “But you also know the North Pole.”

“Yes,” she said, somewhat reluctantly. “Where are you going with this?”

“You’re here because I want you to tell me where your people could be hiding the Avatar.”

Katara stared at Zuko openly now. “What makes you think I would ever tell you that?”

“Because you’ll do it if you know what’s good for you. Or what’s good for your brother.”

She felt her face and body heat up with barely-contained rage as if she were a firebender herself. “You had better leave my brother alone if you know what’s good for _you_. If you hurt him, I’ll make you sorry you were ever born.”

He scoffed. “Big words from someone trapped in a room with no water to bend.” His mocking smile as he watched her expression shift at the truth of his words made her consider smothering him with one of the pillows on the floor. 

“It must really drive you crazy to be so helpless,” he continued. “That’s what it’s like to have an inferior bending style, I guess.”

“I could ‘inferior bend’ you into the dirt any day of the week, and you know it. Give me some water and I’ll show you. You’re just scared of me. Admit it.”

Zuko’s smile turned into a scowl. “I’m not scared of you, waterbender. Just answer the question and quit stalling. Where would they keep the Avatar? Tell me or your brother won’t like the consequences.”

“Why don’t you ask Sokka?” she spat. “But I bet he already told you to stick it, didn’t he?”

Katara couldn’t read the look he gave her, and her heart sank as she hoped she wasn’t condemning Sokka to whatever abuse the Fire Nation was going to heap on him—if they weren’t heaping it on him already.

“Are all Water Tribe members as stubborn as you are?” Zuko demanded.

“It’s called loyalty. And basic decency. Things you wouldn’t know about.”

His glare practically burned her skin. “I know plenty about loyalty.”

Katara snorted. “I just bet you do. So is this what you’re doing with your so-called honor now? Trying to figure out how to track down and kill an innocent little kid?”

Zuko looked uncomfortable for a moment. “That’s not— I mean—”

“That’s what I thought,” she interrupted with an ugly laugh. “Once a Fire Nation monster, always a Fire Nation monster.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So you people _don’t_ want to kill the Avatar?”

“I don’t know, okay?” Zuko snapped. “It’s not as simple as that.”

“It’s pretty damn simple, if you ask me,” Katara shot right back. “The Fire Nation just can’t help being evil, can it? And you’re one of the worst of them.”

Zuko’s eyebrow slanted downwards as he narrowed his eyes and frowned at her. “It’s not about being good or evil. I know my duty, and it’s to my father and to my nation.”

Katara shook her head. “It didn’t have to be this way,” she said suddenly. “I would have helped you, you know. You could have joined us and saved the world from war and death and destruction. But no. You chose the life of being a prince over the lives of innocent people.” 

“I chose my honor. Something you wouldn’t understand.”

“I understand there’s no honor in what you’re trying to do. In who you are. You’re just too blinded to ever recognize it. I can’t believe I was so stupid as to believe there was actually something good inside you.”

Zuko’s mouth straightened into a thin line. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he repeated.

“Yeah. I do. You just couldn’t stand being away from your precious palace where everyone bows and scrapes to you and your family. Have you ever thought that maybe your mother just couldn’t take this horrible place anymore? Maybe she left you because she didn’t want to see what you’d grow up to be.” 

As soon as she said it, Katara knew she’d gone too far. The unscarred portion of Zuko’s face had gone pale with anger. She opened her mouth long enough to say, “Zuko…I’m—”

“You don’t know anything,” he interrupted with a hiss. “You’re just a useless Water Tribe peasant. What does it matter what you think? If you don’t tell me what I want to know, you’re going to be sorry.”

Her face twisted in hatred at his insults. At his threats. 

“I’ll never help you. I would rather die.” 

“Well, that can be arranged,” he shouted at her, finally breaking his hold on himself as he clenched his fists so tightly together it looked like his fingers would break. They glared each other down for a long moment. He turned abruptly, leaving with a growl of frustration and slammed the door closed behind him.

Katara wished she could say it felt good to feel like she’d won that round against him. But it didn’t. And either way, she was still stuck in her pretty cell while her brother and her people and the Avatar all needed her help. She felt herself sinking down onto one of the orange silk pillows as she hid her face in her hands. For the first time, she felt the hope drain out of her.

*******

Zuko stalked down the corridor. He felt so angry he thought that fire might as well be leaking from his fingertips. Servants and nobles bowed as he passed, but he didn’t spare them a look. They all seemed to read his mood as they shrank away from him. Instead of reacting, he swept towards the one place that might calm him down. 

The serenity of the gardens overtook his thoughts that threatened to boil over with rage and hurt. The waterbender was wrong. She was. His mother hadn’t left him by choice. Surely she hadn’t.

As if they knew he was thinking about his mother, the turtle-ducks swam towards him, sounding their gentle quacks that usually soothed him and drew a smile to his face. He’d been so upset he hadn’t thought to grab some bread to feed them.

“Way to go, Zuko,” he muttered. It was probably best if they didn’t come to rely on him, he thought. He wouldn’t be around much longer if he finally got the information he needed out of the waterbender about the location of the Avatar. Even if he didn’t, his father had charged him with heading to one or both of the Poles and “taking care of” the new incarnation.

His father’s smooth voice echoed in his mind. “You did such a commendable job along with your sister with the last Avatar. Surely an infant should pose no problem for you.” 

Zuko’s skin crawled at the memory of Avatar Aang’s death and at the thought of murdering a kid. Master Katara had been right about that. His father had been explicit about what he expected when it came to the one person who could pose a threat to his reign.

He blew out a long breath. Things were so messed up. Uncle was in prison, his mother was still missing with no clue as to whether or not she was even alive, the Avatar was out there and was a new target. Or an old target. Whatever. Only his father and Azula seemed to actually be happy. And they were both happy with _him_ , which felt strange and almost wrong to say the least. 

He couldn’t stifle the thought that their approval still didn’t feel like enough. 

Maybe he just needed to give himself time to let everything sink in and get comfortable again. It had been a long time since he’d been home. He’d forgotten the sheer comfort and privilege surrounding him alongside the crushing sense of responsibility to fulfill his duties and help lead the nation to victory. Not to mention the pressure to be a good prince and an even better son. He never felt as if anyone understood that pressure except possibly Azula, although she handled her stress in very different ways than he did. 

The only person he had ever been able to really talk to and let his guard down around had been Uncle. And now Uncle must hate him.

He probably wasn’t alone in that feeling, either. Master Katara had also been betrayed when Zuko had chosen the throne over whatever goodness they thought he should be pursuing. She had a right to be angry with him after he’d been so close to joining her cause in the caves below the Earth Kingdom. 

A thought stole into his mind. She was a princess, like he'd said. Technically. Maybe she would understand a little of what he was going through and the kind of push and pull that constantly assaulted him.

He couldn’t help but think that she had looked good in red. He’d been surprised about that when he’d first laid eyes on her in captivity. And the way she’d blazed with righteous fury had truly been a sight to behold. It was too bad she wasn’t Fire Nation. Master Katara of the Fire Nation really had a ring to it, and her battle prowess was something he was already far too familiar with. If it could have been used to aid their efforts to take down the other nations, then this war would probably have been over within a month.

She would tear the palace down, water or no water, if she found out they didn’t really have her brother. It was all a ploy Azula had come up with. To Zuko, it seemed like the strategy might explode in their faces if Master Katara became determined to break out of the palace to “rescue” him. Mai and Ty Lee had reported that Sokka had flown off on the Avatar’s giant shy bison along with the formidable earthbending master and their irritating flying creature.

Zuko shifted uncomfortably as he looked at the calm waters in the turtle-duck pond. The subterfuge they were subjecting their prisoner to seemed needlessly cruel, but if it did the trick then it wasn’t his place to complain about it. His father had been delighted with Azula’s treachery, as usual. Zuko didn’t know why they had thrust the job of wearing down Master Katara on him. Maybe they thought he would be more intimidating to her with his scar and his anger. Fat chance of her thinking that, though. She’d beaten him enough times that he knew she saw him as a threat, but not as an insurmountable one. 

Maybe they just wanted to give him the opportunity to fail again. That was probably it.

Zuko sighed. He wished he was back in the field away from the palace and working on stifling the rebellion. There seemed to be something large-scale brewing among the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom citizens. The generals weren’t sure who was in charge of the rebellion, although if Zuko had to guess, he would pin it on Toph Beifong and Master Katara’s brother. Sokka was more dangerous than he looked, and Zuko wouldn’t make the mistake of underestimating him as others might just because he wasn’t a bender.

There was definitely something going on. It was just hard to pin down what it was and where it was taking place. Killing the Avatar and taking Ba Sing Se should have obliterated the last remnants of hope these people had. Somehow, it didn’t seem to have had the desired effect. Reports over the past few weeks had hinted at some kind of scramble to join forces before the comet arrived.

His father seemed to think that putting down the new Avatar would put a stop to all that. That it would kill the hope dead with a swift and decisive show that the Fire Nation would do whatever it took to bring order to the nations. Zuko knew that wasn’t what the rest of the world saw his people bringing to them, but he knew better than to try telling anyone in the palace something like that.

The more he thought about it—and he had put a lot of thought into it—it made more sense to him to just imprison the Avatar instead of tracking down a new kid every few weeks. But he wasn’t privy to his father’s reasoning or decision-making most of the time. All of the time, if he was honest with himself.

As far as Zuko was concerned, they should take the new Avatar from whatever Water Tribe family they came from and raise them in the Fire Nation. Then they would be on the right side with the right values and the right motivations. Surely the combined might of his nation with the sight of a healthy and happy Avatar would bring the other nations under control again. They could work together. It was a possibility, anyway.

He would have to bring up these points with his father at the dinner they would share in the next few days. Maybe if Avatar Aang hadn’t been raised with the Air Nomads with their stupid philosophies, then maybe he wouldn’t have stood up to Zuko’s father and ended up dead. 

Zuko deflated at the memory of seeing Azula shoot her lightning bolt into Avatar Aang’s chest.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t tried to burn the Avatar into submission himself. And if he was honest about it, he probably would have killed him if it came down to a choice between his honor or the Avatar’s life. Thinking about his honor and his enemy’s death made his mind turn to what he’d been avoiding thinking about for days.

Uncle.

When he’d seen the Avatar’s body, the old man had surrendered as if the fight had gone out of him. Although who could say if that was really the case since it was Uncle, after all. A small part of him hoped that maybe his uncle had come back with him without a fight so that he could keep watch over Zuko himself and continue to try to be a mentor and act almost like a parent. As soon as the idea leaped into his consciousness, Zuko strangled it into nothing without mercy.

Uncle was a traitor like Azula had said, he told himself, and that was that. Zuko had regained his honor by helping to kill Avatar Aang. There was no way he was going to ruin it by letting things like humility and compassion weaken him. Not anymore. He squeezed his eyes shut as he thought about how stupid and optimistic he’d been on the morning the Earth Kingdom had fallen. The dream of the two dragons and the broken fever that went along with it had weakened him, but he’d awoken feeling as if he were a new person. A different person.

What an idiot he’d been.

You couldn’t change who you were. Not really. Not where it counted deep inside. He just had to accept that he was the prince of the Fire Nation and that he was someone who would never be truly good like his uncle and his mother had hoped. 

And if it felt as if a small part of him died with that thought, he did his best not to show it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kind comments and kudos! It really is so encouraging :) Meanwhile, I wish I could give poor Zuko a hug.

_You’re not the man you used to be, Zuko._

Zuko turned over in bed, feeling the memory of his uncle’s voice crowding against his half-awake mind, lashing him with guilt as Iroh’s speech beneath the Earth Kingdom repeatedly echoed in his head. The soft pillows and silk sheets did nothing to keep him from hearing those firm but gentle words again and again. He twisted the sheets in his hands, trying to cut off the circling thoughts.

_You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been._

He squeezed his eyes shut tighter and willed sleep to come to him. At least to drown out the constant repetition of his uncle’s words.

_And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny._

It wasn’t even dawn yet. He needed to sleep. There had to be a way to forget and move on.

_It’s time for you to choose. It’s time for you to choose good._

Flipping over one more time, Zuko sat up with a groan and threw the covers away as if they burned him. He lay in the large bed in his room where every aspect of it was dedicated to the crown prince’s comfort. If only comfort was a sensation he could feel, but everything seemed to slide sideways every time he tried to enjoy himself and what he’d won back. Instead, guilt and anger pricked at him almost constantly. The emotions tormented him so that he could never find rest—like flies relentlessly biting the hide of a komodo-rhino, driving it mad with frustration.

He slid his legs off the side of the bed. The sun would rise soon. He could feel it lingering at the edge of his consciousness as all firebenders could. It seemed like he may as well go practice his bending. He’d come a long way with it since his final days of being in the palace as a thirteen-year-old boy. Then, his inferior bending had been a source of shame. He was a man now, and he wanted to make sure he didn’t lose the skills he’d worked so hard to acquire through his uncle’s training and his own studies while at sea and in the Earth Kingdom. 

Pulling on a tunic and pants, he threw a mantle on over his clothes since the servants weren’t up yet to dress him. It wasn’t like he couldn’t dress himself, anyway. Agni knew he’d had enough practice taking care of that along with taking care of the few objects he’d had during his exile, especially when he was on his own traveling without his uncle. After a moment of thought, he picked up his dual swords where they hung on the wall since his return and slid them into their scabbard. He wrapped the scabbard around his waist and walked out without a backwards glance as if he could leave behind his uncle’s words just as he left the bedroom behind.

Coming across the two guards standing watch in front of his doorway when he left his suite emphasized just how different it was here in the palace compared to how he’d become used to living. “Your highness,” they murmured as one, just as guards would do every morning for the rest of his life from now on. The two men bowed and then fell into position a little behind him when he began to walk down the hallway. Zuko realized he was constantly surrounded by people here, yet he felt more alone now than he ever had before.

The hallways were mostly empty except for the guard rotations, who all gave deep nods to him as he passed and spoke quiet words of respect. He inclined his head in return as if to make up for his rudeness with the servants and nobles over the past two days. And he had definitely been rude and surly, snapping at anyone who came too near like a half-wild animal.

He knew what had put him in such a wretched mood, and it unnerved him. It wasn’t good that the waterbender could get under his skin so thoroughly. He’d told himself he hadn’t gone back to see her yet because he wanted her to stew on her loneliness and her brother’s supposed imprisonment. Hopefully the leverage of Sokka’s “capture” would make her more amenable to telling him what he wanted to know.

Or maybe it would just shut her up about his mother. 

He could hope it would, at least.

It wasn’t fair how easily any mention of Ursa stoked his anger and despair. Master Katara knew how to hurt him now, and he didn’t like her having access to that weakness to exploit. Even Uncle rarely brought up Zuko’s mother and her relationship with anyone in the family. 

Before he could linger on the painful thoughts, he reached the palace training grounds. One area was a sandy arena for bending, and another held an array of weapons to add into the mix when practicing forms. Looking over the swords, he knew he would prefer to use his own dao from the Earth Kingdom. After all, Master Piandao wouldn’t want him to forget all the skills he’d learned growing up that were just as important as the fire bending skills his uncle had drilled into him in training sessions. Azula had hinted that their father had commissioned a master weapons smith to forge two new swords as a welcome home present—swords that befitted the prince of the Fire Nation. If so, they would undoubtedly be the finest weapons money could buy, although they would probably be offered as tribute to a hero of the fall of Ba Sing Se.

A hero. What a joke that was, Zuko thought. But nobody else seemed to get the punchline.

Uncle would have understood, though. Zuko thought about how he could possibly visit him in the Capital City Prison if only to check up on him and see how he was doing. They could talk things over and Iroh would tell him what to do to make everything alright again. If he did that, perhaps the words his uncle had last spoken to him would fade away and stop tormenting him. 

He sighed. It was time to train and maybe forget for a little while the utter disappointment he felt in himself for the different weaknesses that plagued him.

The guards took up their positions at the entrance to the arena. Meanwhile, Zuko removed his mantle, his tunic, and the flame stickpin in his hair and laid them on a small table. His hair fell around his face in the way he’d become used to in Ba Sing Se. The shaggy locks would probably shock the palace nobles if they could see him. 

He unsheathed his dao with a subtle ring of steel on steel before arranging his body into the stance for the correct weapons form. Turning to align his body and the reversed handles of the swords with the slowly rising sun, he began to move and let the focus on the gestures sweep his thoughts away. 

His graceful, swirling motions allowed him to shoot small bursts of fire toward the ground and into the air, alternating the bending with slices and turns as he held a sword in each hand before combining both sweeping flame and swords into one coordinated attack. Stretching his body, he kicked a foot into the air and let a burst of fire sweep outwards from it before dropping to the ground and shoving the crossed blades forward as if at an enemy’s legs. Spins, thrusts, and slashes followed as he moved like a flickering candle flame standing straight and upright at one moment and bending forward and backwards the next, swords glinting from the rays breaking over the horizon. He finished by presenting the sword handles once more to the sun that had now fully risen as if to greet Zuko and accept his tribute. His hands came to rest at his sides, palms turned downward to the ground, the gesture resembling someone slowly snuffing out a flame.

As his body dripped with sweat, Zuko realized his mind had finally cleared when the muscle memory had taken over sometime during the last half hour of his practice. The emptiness of his mind and the easy acceptance of his emotions made him feel as if all could be well in his life. It was as if a jagged rock had been worn down by the tide until its edges were smooth. The feeling filled him with a profound sense of relief and simplicity.

He knew what he needed to do now.

Zuko retrieved his tunic and mantle, drawing both back on over his head before heading back into the palace to clean himself up. Once he had done that, he would travel to the Prison Tower and see his uncle. Then he would see to the water bender. He would face his conflicted feelings head on and make sense of them. Such calmness always seemed to bubble over into anger eventually, but for now he relished the clarity of his spirit. It was a new day, and he would rise to greet it with strength just as the sun now rose inexorably into the sky.

*

A steward had reminded Zuko that princes didn’t walk places on their own, so he now rode in a palanquin until he arrived at the edge of the Capital’s residential district where a carriage pulled by a dragon-moose waited. While climbing into the conveyance, he realized he missed riding on an animal’s back. If he had been in the Earth Kingdom on his old ostrich-horse, he would feel so much freer. But thinking of that reminded him of how he owed that Earth Kingdom girl Song and her mother for their animal he’d stolen. He would send them some money to make amends, he decided. It was the very least he could do now that he had the palace coffers at his disposal.

Before he could go down the mental road of thinking of all the people he owed for his previous actions and what might make amends for them, he arrived at the Capital City Prison complex. Its massive stone tower rose before him as he climbed out of the carriage.

“Stay here,” he told his two guards who looked at each other as if unsure whether they should obey without question. They finally nodded when his gaze narrowed at them. They must have decided he wouldn’t face many threats in a prison, or they just didn’t want to face what was probably now his legendary temper. 

He entered the tower and walked slowly up through the dim, spiraling hallway to his uncle’s cell. The prison guards all stood at attention as he walked by. His crown prince’s robes and stickpin tended to have that effect on people. Standing in front of the cell door, he took a deep breath. He hadn’t been brave enough to actually go inside the first time he’d come here, but this time was different. He needed to talk to Uncle more now than he could ever remember needing to.

Pushing the door open, he could barely see two feet in front of him. Dim light came in from a small rectangular window cut into the rock and set above the top of a metal cage’s roof.

A cage. Uncle was being kept in a cage. 

Zuko had known that would probably be the case, but seeing it in practice was so much worse. Rather than sit on the battered metal stool off to the side of the room, he sat on the ground, not caring if he got his robes dirty. Respect was the only thing he could offer his uncle right now.

Iroh sat on the ground on a worn mat. His robes were travel-stained, and his hair hung lank and dirty around his face. His face was downcast and his eyes looked at his folded hands resting on his lap.

He didn’t look up as Zuko arranged himself in front of the bars. It was if his nephew wasn’t even there.

“Uncle. It’s me. I need to talk to you.”

No response. 

Zuko sighed. “I know you probably don’t want to see me right now, but I need your help. There’s a lot going on, and I don’t know what to do. I need your help,” he repeated before adding a slightly desperate-sounding, “Please.”

Silence.

Zuko gritted his teeth, his anger beginning to build and burn away the earlier clarity as it always did.

“You probably hate me right now. For what I did. But I didn’t have a choice!” he exclaimed. “I _had_ to regain my honor and my throne. Surely you must see that. Was I supposed to just live like a tea merchant peasant for the rest of my life? The nation needs me. It’s my duty!” He realized his voice was rising, but that his emotions were having little to no visible effect on his uncle.

“Aren’t you even going to look at me? I betrayed you! I helped kill the Avatar!” he practically shouted. “At least tell me off. At least tell me how angry you are and how disappointed you are in me!”

After a long moment, Iroh sighed as he continued to concentrate on his folded hands resting in his lap. “I am not angry,” he said, breaking the stillness but still not looking at Zuko as if he simply spoke to himself in that moment. “What I am is heartbroken.” He paused. “My son is dead, Avatar Aang is dead, and the one who was like a son to me has fallen into darkness. I will wait to see what fate has in store and discover if at least one of them returns to the path they were destined to walk.”

_Was_ like a son. Zuko couldn’t help but latch onto those words. As for hoping that one of them returned to their path, his uncle could only mean the new Avatar, not Zuko himself. His eyes began to ache, but he refused to cry or show weakness of any kind. Instead, he tried to stifle his sorrow by stoking the anger beginning to rage inside him. 

“Yeah?” He said, reaching for the most hurtful thing that came into his head. “Well, I don’t need you anymore. So keep your proverbs and your wise words because I have my father’s love now,” he spat. “And I’ll show you the path I’m meant to walk. It’s straight to the throne and leading the Fire Nation to glory!”

His uncle bowed his head and refused to engage with him further, which only made Zuko angrier than ever. He shot to his feet and stalked out of the room, slamming the cell door as hard as he could. That utter fury carried him on a dark cloud down the hallway and out the door. He would have slammed the door to his carriage, too, if one of the guards wasn’t holding it open for him.

Resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands and scream his frustration, he gritted his teeth and tried to calm his mind once more to no avail.

“Back to the palace, your highness?” the same guard asked, breaking his attempts at concentration.

“No. Take me to Lady Mai’s,” he snapped.

The man nodded, and a moment later, the carriage rolled back towards the palace before stopping in front of Mai’s house. Once Zuko had climbed out of the carriage, servants fluttered around him before escorting him to the parlor where his girlfriend waited. They’d only been dating a short time since the last days before they all left Ba Sing Se, but he and Mai had put the travel time to good use on the way back to the Fire Nation.

“Hey Zuko,” Mai said in her usual disinterested voice, although her small smile ruined the effect. “What are you doing here? We’ll be seeing each other tonight for dinner, won’t we?”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah,” Zuko said, having completely forgotten for a moment that the dinner with his father and the highest of the nobility and generals was to be held that night.

“So what did you want? You look kind of…stressed.”

“I am,” Zuko said as he tried his best to stand still and not pace the floor to expel the energy filling him. “I mean—I don’t know. I just visited my uncle.”

Mai arched an eyebrow slightly. “At the prison? Why would you do that?”

“I just wanted to talk to him, I guess.” Telling Mai that he really wanted to discuss the new Avatar with his uncle seemed like it might be a way to deliver the news straight to Azula’s ears. Not that Mai would rat him out, he only knew he needed to be careful.

“He wouldn’t even give me the time of day, though,” Zuko said, his anger bubbling in his chest and stomach.

“Well, what did you expect?” Mai asked. “You did have a hand in arresting him.” She paused. “And why do you even care what he has to say? He’s a traitor.”

Zuko felt his inner fire flicker and sputter at hearing someone call his uncle that. It was a word he’d called Uncle when talking to guards or to Azula or his father, but it felt…wrong to call him that somehow. It made him feel ashamed every time he said it or heard it.

“Yeah. I know,” he muttered.

“Besides, I thought you hated traveling with your uncle. You should be tired of seeing him by now.”

“I did hate it. I mean—it wasn’t good or anything.” He looked away. “I don’t know.”

Mai’s eyebrows rose higher. “You keep saying that.” 

Zuko huffed. “Okay, fine. I just needed some clarity on something about the Avatar.”

She yawned. “The Avatar is boring. And dead.” Mai glanced at him from beneath lowered lashes. “Come sit with me instead.”

Zuko couldn’t help but perk up at the phrase that usually entailed less sitting and more kissing and respectfully holding Mai’s hand. Or not so respectfully ordering the guards outside the room and making out on a couch. He moved towards Mai.

“I’d love to,” he said, his voice low. And as he took Mai into his arms, he pushed thoughts of the Avatar, his uncle, and both his uncle’s disappointment with him and his disappointment with himself straight out of his mind.

*

Dinner that night was the kind of restrained and formal occasion he'd been accustomed to as he grew up. It seemed strange now that he’d returned to the palace from living abroad for so long. When he saw her, Mai had a secret smile only for him. That should have been enough to occupy his thoughts, but it wasn’t. He intended to speak with his father about his new plan for the Avatar, and it weighed on him. There were so many ways it could go from thoughtful acceptance to a full-on Agni Kai like the last time Zuko had offered his opinion on strategy.

He sat in his customary position on his father’s right, just as in the throne room where Azula was always seated on the left. Something told him she coveted Zuko’s place as much as she probably coveted the throne, but she merely gave him a bland smile. As they entered the third course, she cleared her throat and turned to face Zuko across the table.

“Zuzu. How is the waterbender’s interrogation going? Is she spilling her guts about the new Avatar yet?”

Zuko felt his stomach muscles clench as his father turned his attention from the heavily-spiced komodo-chicken and towards his children instead.

“She’s fine,” Zuko said with as much boredom in his voice as he could manage. At the evil twist of Azula’s lips, he amended, “Well, I mean, she’s not _fine_. But she’s going to talk soon enough.”

“You mean she hasn’t revealed the Avatar’s location? How disappointing. I’m sure you’ll just have to try harder. Maybe I can help provide a little…encouragement.”

Zuko shook his head and snapped, “I’m handling it. She’s worried about her brother now that she thinks he’s being held here. That should be enough to make her talk.”

“Yes,” Azula said with narrowed eyes and a smirk. “I thought that might be the thing to break her. It’s like father always says,” she said with a brilliant smile towards Ozai, “Your enemy’s weakness is your greatest strength.” 

Their father gave Azula a pleased look. “Your sister takes my teachings to heart. If the prisoner doesn’t talk despite your leverage, she likely won’t talk at all. We don’t have time to dally, and the death of the Avatar’s fellow conspirator would send a powerful message.” 

Ozai seemed to be assessing Zuko’s reaction, and he pushed down the nerves that inexplicably filled him at that look. Why did it always feel as if his father was trying to trap him in some kind of mistake?

He tried to rally. “If the stratagem doesn’t work, it _would_ send a powerful message to kill her, father. But if she talks, it will place us in a much stronger position to find the new Avatar. I think it’s worth holding out to see if that happens.”

Ozai nodded “I agree.” 

Azula looked like she’d bitten into a piece of tainted komodo-chicken. Then their father waved a casual hand. 

“You could always kill the girl after she talks, of course. Better to have both options available to you. Continue with your plan, Prince Zuko. I look forward to seeing you bring it to fulfillment.”

Zuko swallowed. This seemed to be his moment. “Father,” he began, and Ozai returned his gaze to him. “I wanted to talk to you about a plan for dealing with the Avatar.”

“We already have a plan,” his father said. A rumble of warning echoed in his voice.

Zuko ducked his head. “I know, Father.” He leaned on his own stubbornness and drew upon his courage before raising his head and announcing abruptly, “I don’t think I should kill the new Avatar.”

The generals and nobles froze, and the sound of a fork clattering as it dropped to a plate was the only sound around the table. Mai’s face had drained of color, and Azula looked on with glee sparking in her eyes. His father’s face darkened.

Zuko bowed his head as he continued with the words he'd so carefully planned out. “I don’t say this out of disrespect for your orders or out of cowardice to do my duty. I honestly believe if we were to bring the Avatar to the Fire Nation and raise the child here, we would be able to draw on their power and shape them into someone to help the nation continue to thrive.”

His father’s face transitioned slowly from anger to thoughtfulness. He steepled his fingers and looked into the distance. “Avatar Roku was raised in the Fire Nation,” he said finally. “And we all know how that ended with your great-grandfather. The risk would be great.”

“And it reeks of mercy,” Azula commented, her voice dripping with contempt. “Everyone would think we were being weak. We should instead send the message that fire is strength, and that our strength doesn’t waver whether it’s dealing with a squalling child or a full-grown Avatar.”

Zuko ignored Azula’s words and nodded to his father instead. “Yes, sir. It is a risk. And Azula is right that it would be seen as being merciful, and a few may presume that such mercy would be a weakness. But I believe the reward of the people’s goodwill and the powers of the Avatar being under our control would lead to incalculable strength. The rewards far outweighs the risk.”

Ozai tapped his fingers together lightly as if weighing the options. “It is a sound strategy, Prince Zuko,” he said finally. “However, your sister is more in line with my way of thinking on this matter. Perhaps we will attempt your method with the next earthbender Avatar, but the current Avatar must die. It will stamp out the growing strands of rebellion before our enemies can unite together. That is more valuable than anything else. And it is you who will take that step for us and prove your capability as the next Fire Lord.”

“But Father—” Zuko began.

“It is my final word on the matter,” Ozai said firmly, his voice a low rumble. 

Azula looked triumphant.

Mai’s face flickered between boredom and worry while Ty Lee simply looked at Zuko with curiosity.

The generals and nobles refused to look at him at all.

Zuko himself looked at his plate as he felt his heart practically stop in his chest when he thought about what was expected of him. What was expected and what he would now have to do. He went through the motions of being the perfect son for the rest of the dinner--he couldn't afford another mistake--but inside he felt only despair. There was no escape. He was as trapped as the waterbender was in her room and just as helpless. Inside, he felt like a dormant volcano, placid on the surface but raging with fire and magma underneath. Someday soon, that fire would rise to the surface. And when it did, he knew it would consume and destroy everything in its path. 

Everything including him.


	4. Chapter 4

Katara dipped and stretched, feeling her muscles and tendons pulling against each other as she went through the motions of her waterbending forms. By practicing, she felt as if she was doing something to increase her advantage against her captors, although that advantage meant exactly little to nothing at the moment. At least Zuko had left her alone for the past few days. Their last interaction had made her so angry she was still spitting mad.

She maybe also felt a little bit guilty for what she’d said to him before he’d left in a rage. 

Trying to block the look on his face out of her mind so it didn’t bother her anymore, she thought back to what it had looked like as he shot fireballs and columns of flame at her back in the cave near the Earth Kingdom palace. It had been terrifying to face off against him as it always was. Exhilarating too, if she was honest with herself. She didn’t often face off with firebenders who weren’t regular soldiers. Azula was the only other firebender to rival and surpass Zuko’s abilities, and his talent had only seemed to grow over the years as they had fought and skirmished with him throughout her small gang’s adventures.

Their elements were opposing ones, and one would think she and Zuko would have been polar opposites personality-wise with her simply freezing him out and dousing any kind of conversation. That just wasn’t Katara’s way, though. Instead the combination of their two elements was utterly explosive—just like their personalities became any time they were in a room together for more than five minutes.

Shaking her head, she tried to push thoughts of the prince out of her mind to focus on her movements. It took a greater effort than she would have liked, and she found herself really having to push herself. Her muscles strained and sweat ran down her back and beaded on her brow. The feeling of those drops sliding down her body made her pause and break out of the form.

Sweat. She was sweating. And that meant water. Water! She had access to water after all! This changed everything, and she grinned at the revelation before wondering where else she could take this newfound wisdom. It wasn’t the kind of bending that she’d ever thought about before when she’d had a ready supply of water in her pouch or in a water source on the ground or in the clouds. 

This was bending related to the body. She recalled her wish to freeze Zuko’s mouth shut the last time she’d seen him. Now that image gave her several ideas. Water was everywhere if she thought about it. It wasn’t only vines in the Swamp that were full of liquid. She raised her hand to look at it. Her mouth was full of spit. Her eyes were filled with tears. Her veins were full of blood. She wasn’t completely sure how she could possibly use those aspects of her element without practice, but it was something to think about and consider practicing with.

A less drastic measure presented itself later that morning. Lin and Xuě arrived to provide her with her breakfast and ostensibly to dress her. Katara always drew the line at being dressed like a coddled noblewoman. She struggled to put the Fire Nation ensemble on by herself before they arrived. The ladies would give each other pained looks and try to set her to rights with small gestures and adjustments. She could tell they were on their best behavior now that Zuko had told them to treat her with respect. Katara didn’t like owing Zuko for anything, but it was nice to not be the recipient of subtle nastiness as she had been before.

Once she was finally ready for her breakfast, she sat at the carved wooden table and took up her chopsticks to eat the noodle dish in front of her. Her mouth burned, and she could feel herself break out into a sweat from the spice, although the ladies probably wouldn’t have given it a thought.

“Is it to your taste, my lady?” Xuě asked.

“Spicy!” Katara exclaimed before reaching for the teapot as if to pour herself her own cup. The ladies lunged forward over the table. They probably thought she was making an escape attempt. Before they could protest or shoot a fireball her way, she knocked the teapot sideways as if caught off-balance by their gestures. She only had to watch as it fell to the ground with a clatter, the lid coming off and tea spilling all over the floor.

“Don’t move, my lady,” Xuě said, holding her hands out in a bending gesture that would have set Katara’s clothes alight if the girl produced even a small amount of fire. Katara stiffened while Lin grabbed for a towel from next to the tray where the teapot had once rested. “Not to worry,” Lin said with a satisfied smirk. “We are prepared for every eventuality.”

“Even clumsiness?” Katara asked with a rueful twist to her mouth as she tried to look as innocent as possible. Hopefully, they would chalk her accident up to the kind of artlessness attributed to the peasants they thought she belonged to. Meanwhile, she began to bend as subtly as she could, moving her fingers in slow, gentle gestures with only the slightest of motions. As Lin mopped up the majority of the tea, droplets found their way through Katara’s guidance into the cracks in the floor, stretching along the entire length of the surface. They were nigh invisible, she saw with satisfaction. Once the ladies were gone, she would find a container and have an arsenal of liquid to bend.

When the excitement seemed to be over, Katara turned to the ladies, saying, “I’m very sorry for the mess. I think I’m done with breakfast and will meditate alone for a little while.” She took in their skeptical expressions. “Master benders meditate all the time,” she lied.

“As you wish, my lady,” Lin said, and the two bowed before leaving the room. Before any more of the liquid could evaporate, Katara gathered it with one sweeping gesture into a tea-colored orb floating in the air. She had managed to hide more droplets than she thought she ever could. Searching the room, she picked up an empty decorative vase to use as a vessel. They would never let her have a real vase with flowers and water, of course, but they would never even think to look in the decorative one. Katara didn’t want any liquid to evaporate, but she couldn’t very well put a lid on the vessel. It didn’t matter, she thought. Now that she’d tried out the technique, she intended to siphon off more water in a similar fashion when she put the next phase of her escape plan in motion.

Her opportunity came when Lin and Xuě reappeared a few hours later. Katara arranged her expression into a meek one.

“Could I have a bath?”

They had bathed her when she’d first arrived several days before. It had been a sponge bath with Lin and Xuě standing guard and ready to fling fireballs at her at the slightest provocation. Katara had finished up quickly and handed the sponge and small bowl over to the ladies before getting dressed again.

Now, the ladies didn’t even blink at the request since Katara had been a model prisoner as far as they were concerned. 

“Of course, my lady,” Lin nodded. “We were going to suggest the same thing in case the prince decided to visit you again.”

Katara almost snorted. They weren’t “visits”. He was going to interrogate her, and part of her dreaded it. The other part of her looked forward to giving him more of the tongue-lashing he so richly deserved. Not to mention, it would be incredibly satisfying to see how angry he would undoubtedly get when she didn’t break under his threats or whatever else he tried.

Lin returned with a small bowl of clean water and the sponge while Xuě helped Katara undress and laid a red and black silk robe across the bed.

“Just in case his highness arrives,” the lady explained.

Katara nodded, and as she bathed, she tried pushing moisture into the air, creating more steam than was normal. She intended to gather it into small droplets that would hide in the cracks in the floor again or cling to the ceiling when the ladies weren’t looking.

It may not have seemed like much to work with, but Katara reminded herself that a small trickle of water could be as powerful as a mountain avalanche with enough bending force. She’d seen how water could cut through even steel like it had when she and Aang had cooperated in the belly of the Fire Nation’s drilling machine not so very long ago. 

A plan began to form in her mind. The door was wood, not metal, since the room wasn’t supposed to look like a prison cell. She had heard of ice storms and tree branches exploding under the force of the expanding water within them. Perhaps if she could create a slim cut in the door near the hinges or the lock, she could fill it with water and begin to bend and freeze the water until the door weakened and shattered under the force. From there, it would be a straight shot to find Sokka. She just needed to figure out where he was. 

Perhaps Zuko or the ladies would let something slip. It was worth a try to gather intelligence on the palace and on where the regular prisoners were kept. It seemed unlikely, but maybe she could talk someone into giving her a tour of the palace. Unlikely or not, she was feeling hopeful once more. A small smile twisted the corners of her mouth upwards.

“You seem in a cheerful mood, my lady,” Xuě commented. Katara couldn’t help but notice the suspicion laced among the words.

“I guess I just like being clean and being around my element. You wouldn’t understand. You have fire with you all the time.” But not forever. Katara almost laughed. The Day of Black Sun was coming. Then they would all be at _her_ mercy. Pulling away from thoughts that could easily turn dark, she asked something that had been on her mind. 

“You two seem to be skilled firebenders. Why aren’t you both in the army?”

Lin and Xuě exchanged glances, but they must have decided the information couldn’t be used against the Fire Nation.

“Our families did not want us serving as troops,” Lin said. “We attended the Royal Fire Academy for Girls alongside other girls of our station. Even Princess Azula attended the Academy,” she said somewhat breathlessly. If Katara didn’t know any better, she’d say Lin had a crush on Zuko’s horrendous sister. She shuddered at the thought of what they must teach at the Academy if they produced creatures like Azula and her companions. 

“We received the best training in firebending and weaponry there as well as learning history and culture,” Lin finished.

Xuě hesitated before adding, “Noblemen who are benders become officers. It is more…difficult for noblewomen to find a profession. We chose to become ladies-in-waiting.”

“Who act as security guards,” Katara pointed out.

Lin inclined her head. “That as well. Our skills make us very desirable at the palace.” She paused, shrugging slightly. “It was either that or become assassins.”

Katara swallowed at that calm yet bloodthirsty comment. Before she could reply, a knock sounded on the door. The ladies’ heads snapped towards the sound.

“Quick, my lady. It is likely the prince himself on his way,” Xuě said with a little desperation in her voice as she snatched up Katara’s clothes and buttoned and straightened it around her body. 

Katara sighed and plaited her hair into a loose, damp braid as Xuě worked. She felt her fingers rush through the gestures of the hairstyle which was more to calm the ladies than it ever would have been to please Zuko.

Another rap sounded on the door, and the ladies dropped into their usual low bows as it opened. The prince himself did indeed walk in. Katara couldn’t help but notice that he looked like he hadn’t slept for days. There was a dark circle under his unscarred eye, marring his porcelain skin with obvious fatigue, and his hands were clenched tightly behind his back.

“We will leave you both. Your highness,” Lin said with deference before she and Xuě left, and a guard shut the door behind them. As soon as they left, Zuko began to pace like a caged animal. 

Katara crossed her arms. Spirits knew she wasn’t going to let his display intimidate her. She also refused to break the silence, despite how long it stretched. He continued to pace, and that silence continued to stretch tighter and tighter. Finally, she began tapping her foot against the floor in irritation. Before she could break down and tell him to spit out whatever it was he was thinking about, Zuko turned to face her abruptly.

“How do you know if you’re good?” he demanded.

Katara felt completely caught off-guard and off-balance from his question. “What?” she asked reflexively.

He frowned. “I’m asking about if you’re good or not. How do you know if you’re one or the other?”

“You just…you just know,” Katara stammered, still unsure of where he was going with this or what he expected from her. “You know because you’re doing what you think is right. It usually goes along with helping people and with not hurting anyone.”

Zuko blew out a frustrated breath. “Yes, but how do you _know_? Everyone is telling me what I’m supposed to do and who I’m supposed to be, but I don’t know if it’s right or not. My uncle—” he faltered for a moment, then he stood taller. “My uncle told me to choose good. But what he thinks is good is so different from what my father thinks is good. I—I don’t know what to think or what to do. I want to do my duty, but does that make me a good son but a bad person? I just don’t know!”

“Well, why are you asking me?” Katara asked, feeling bewildered at the prince’s outburst.

“Because you traveled with the Avatar! And people outside the Fire Nation kept saying how good the Avatar was. My _uncle_ thinks the Avatar is the good one. So what are you? Are you good or are you bad? Are you a savior or are you a traitor in a conspiracy? And if you’re supposed to be the good one, then what does that make me?”

Katara walked over and sat on the bed. She needed to feel its weight under her as his words sunk in. “Are you saying you’re having an existential crisis? Now?! After all you’ve done? After all the hurt you’ve caused?”

Zuko gripped his hands into fists and brought them up to his face in frustration as he growled as loud as a platypus bear. “I told you. _I don’t know_ , okay? Uncle is in prison because he wanted to help the Avatar, but what if he was right and Uncle is actually the good one? What does that even mean for me?”

Katara raised an eyebrow. “I thought I was supposed to be your prisoner. Do you seriously not have anyone else to talk to about this?”

“No!” Zuko exclaimed, dropping his arms and facing her. “You are literally the only person here who understands that Uncle isn’t a bad man. Everyone else sees him as a traitor. I know he meant well. I don’t understand why they can’t see that. I mean, I guess I can. Maybe. I don’t know,” he huffed, throwing his hands up and shooting smalls puffs of flame into the air.” 

Katara flinched back from him and the heat radiating out from the flames in the enclosed space. “Hey! Watch it!”

Zuko looked abashed for a moment. “Oh. Sorry.” 

He went back to his pacing a moment later. Katara watched him as he slowed and came to a stop. After his babbling outburst, Zuko seemed to be calming down a little. Almost as if to himself, he said, “I worked so hard for so long to regain my honor, and I thought I had earned it for myself. But then Azula made me question whether I really had regained it or not, so I turned against Uncle. Now I’m worried I may have thrown it away after everything I went through. I’m worried I chose wrong and now it’s too late.”

Katara couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. Maybe it was some kind of trap to gain her trust so she would talk about the Water Tribe. But it didn’t feel like a trap. It felt real. And the man in front of her was clearly suffering.

She sighed. “Look, you’ve been on the wrong side ever since I’ve known you, Zuko. You've done terrible things." She looked down at her hands. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s not too late for you. It’s never too late to start doing good. But you can’t just quit every time it seems like the easy thing to do.”

“You think it was easy to betray my uncle?” Zuko snapped.

Katara looked straight at him. “I think you sided with your sister awfully fast. You helped us face her once when she came after us in the Earth Kingdom. What changed?”

Zuko looked away as if he couldn’t meet her eyes. “It felt like the right thing to do at the time. Azula wanted to know if I was a traitor to the Fire Nation, and I wanted to prove I’m not. But now I’m not so sure.” He sighed and looked off into the distance. “Uncle won’t speak to me, and I definitely can’t talk to my sister or my father about this.” He shook his head. “Even my own girlfriend doesn’t understand.”

“Who’s your girlfriend?”

“It’s Mai. She’s my sister’s friend.” At Katara’s blank expression, he said. “She used to throw knives at you?”

Katara made a face. “Your girlfriend is Knife Girl? Ugh. Of course she is.”

“Hey! ‘Knife Girl’ is really interesting.”

“Interesting how?” Katara asked, honestly curious.

“She never says what you expect her to say. She’s not like other Fire Nation girls.”

Katara rolled her eyes again at that.

“What?” Zuko snapped.

“Every time a guy says ‘She’s not like other girls,’ a panda-puppy gets kicked off a cliff.”

“Well, she’s not,” Zuko exclaimed. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. “How do you describe the Avatar then?” he asked sarcastically. “Since he’s your boyfriend and he definitely isn’t your average guy.”

Katara’s expression turned to stone as she stood up abruptly.

“He _wasn’t_ my boyfriend. And he’s dead. Because of you. You can at least own up to what you’ve done and give him the respect of speaking of him in the past-tense instead of making it sound like it never happened.”

Zuko looked so abashed that she almost relented. Almost.

“Sorry,” he said, his voice husky. “I—I didn’t think Azula would actually kill him.”

Katara’s hands flew to her hips of their own accord. “What did you think would happen? Did you think she’d just ask him nicely to come back to the Fire Nation with her and have tea with Fire Lord Ozai and the royal family? Give me a break.” Tears of rage and pain were starting to gather in the corners of her eyes, and Katara refused to let them fall.

Zuko seemed to see them and his unscarred eye widened in what looked like panic. “Hey. Um. Don’t cry.”

“I’ll cry if I want to! It’s terrible what you’ve done. I hope you’re able to see that.”

“I know. I _have_ done things I regret,” he admitted. Zuko seemed to be struggling with himself. Finally, he looked at her as if he’d come to a decision. 

He nodded. “But I might know a way to fix it. Or to at least make it better.”

Katara looked at him with no small amount of suspicion. “How exactly could you possibly make any of this better?”

Zuko took a deep breath. 

“I’m going to kidnap the new Avatar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry, y’all. Katara will be telling him just what she thinks of that idea in the next chapter ;) Thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a notice here that I added an Archive warning about violence since the end of the chapter has a lot of that in it. Thanks as always for reading!

Katara blinked before shooting to her feet. “What is _wrong_ with you? You think kidnapping the Avatar is the right thing to do? Maybe it is too late for you after all.”

Zuko held up his hands, feeling like there must have been a better way to get his idea across. “No! Wait! Don’t you see? It solves all the problems. I don’t have to kill the Avatar, the Fire Nation gains a powerful ally, and the nations would be united. Then you could go back to your people after you tell me where the Avatar might be hiding. Everybody wins.”

“That’s not winning! You’re saying you want to brainwash the Avatar and make them a puppet of the state?”

Zuko paused. “When you put it like that it doesn’t sound so good.” He glanced down. “But what else am I supposed to do?”

“Definitely not that,” Katara said, shaking her head. “The Avatar is supposed to bring balance to the world. Not use their power to keep one nation on top of all the others.

He felt almost desperate as he argued, “Yeah, well, I have to come up with something, or my father is going to make me kill them! And I can’t just kill a little kid. I can’t.”

Katara raised her eyebrows. “Your father sounds like a real piece of work, you know that?”

“Oh really? Well, what’s your father like?” Zuko scoffed. “Is he so perfect?”

She looked away. “Not exactly,” she muttered.

“Look. I don’t have a lot of options or time here,” he said, drawing them back to the subject at hand. “What do you expect me to do instead?”

“Oh I don’t know,” Katara said sarcastically, “maybe you could let me go so I can actually help the Avatar instead of using them?”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “You know I can’t do that.”

“Well, you’re going to have to do something. If you really want to do good in the world like your uncle wants, you’ll have to start putting others first before what _you_ want. And being on the side of the ones who don’t regularly kill and torture people should tell you whether you’re good or not. Tui and La, if you can’t figure that much out, then you’re really lost.”

Zuko thought about how his uncle had said he had “fallen into darkness”. Maybe if he could just work through whether he was a national hero or whether he was lost like Master Katara suggested, then he would stop being so tormented.

“I’ll—I’ll think about what you said,” he said, giving her a small bow of respect before feeling embarrassment wash over him at the gesture. “And thanks for listening,” he muttered. Before Katara could reply, he swept out of the room and shut the door carefully behind him this time instead of slamming it.

His guards trailed behind him as he walked back down the hallways that led towards the throne room. His father had commanded that Zuko appear before him that morning. He would need to pull his thoughts and emotions together if he was going to make it through that interaction. It was so difficult, though. Visiting the waterbender had only confused him more.

She had confirmed what he had thought about his nation being on the wrong path. There was no denying the death and destruction the Fire Nation wreaked on the people of the other nations. After his time in the Earth Kingdom, he knew those citizens were good people on the whole who wanted to live their lives free of the subjugation of his father’s empire. They clearly didn’t want the Fire Nation's influence and culture forced upon them. 

How was he supposed to convince everyone around him that they needed to stop and retreat, leaving the other nations alone to rebuild their battered cities and homes? If the decree came from the Fire Lord himself, then they would listen. But that was never going to happen without something happening to his father. And that was a mental path he refused to go down.

He couldn’t help but think of the way Master Katara stood up to him without any fear—or even respect for that matter—and how it was honestly refreshing. It was hard not to compare her inner fire to Mai’s studied coldness. Every time he’d encountered her, Master Katara had been like a rushing flood, her blue eyes glowing in the light when she spoke particularly passionately about something. Or when she would lash out at him verbally or physically when they’d fought each other throughout the time he’d chased them.

They had been exceptional adversaries. Except for the one time beneath Ba Sing Se when she had shared her pain with him and he’d shared his. Before he’d burned her trust to ash. He wondered if he could find some way to make it up to her. He wouldn’t free her, of course, but maybe there was something else he could do. Maybe he could turn her anger with him into the kindness he’d so briefly experienced in the cave. That had been the first time he’d really let himself be vulnerable in front of someone in longer than he could remember. And it had felt so…nice.

He shook himself. Nice? He didn’t want to feel _nice_. He wanted to feel strong and unyielding, relying on his hard-won honor. What kind of honor did it display that he’d been thinking of the enemy that way?

Zuko gritted his teeth and hardened his heart as he neared the throne room doors. Guards pulled them open revealing the vast inner chamber lit by the leaping flames stretching in front of the dais where his father sat. At the moment, he appeared to be listening to an agricultural report from one of the ministers, and Zuko waited patiently for his turn to approach. It would give him a few extra moments to pull himself together. He couldn’t afford to show any weakness now that he had been welcomed back.

His father surveyed him when he approached the raised platform. 

“Ah. Prince Zuko.”

Zuko knelt, bowing long and low. “You sent for me, father?”

Ozai nodded. “I did. I have heard you returned more proficient than ever with your sword technique. It pleases me to hear this. It does not, however, please me to hear that the crown prince uses Earth Kingdom swords. To celebrate your defeat of Bang Sing Se, I have commissioned dao of Fire Nation craft. It is more fitting that you bear those as you go to defeat the new Avatar.”

Zuko bowed his head again, pushing away his panic about his father’s reference to the Avatar. “Father, you honor me,” he said instead.

“Yes,” Ozai said with a pleased smile. “The presentation ceremony and the Fire Sages’ blessing of the weapons will take place later this afternoon.”

“I look forward to it,” Zuko said, knowing from his father’s tone that he was dismissed. As he rose, he saw the approving glances of the ministers and the generals. He was a dutiful son acting and speaking exactly as he should be doing. Why wouldn’t they be happy with him?

But that approval twisted into something sharp and lodged in his chest as he held his head high and walked out of the throne room. He needed a distraction. He needed Mai. Yes. Mai would help soothe his thoughts.

“Send a message to the Lady Mai that I will be visiting her,” he told a servant who bowed and hurried away to do his prince’s bidding. When Zuko arrived at her house shortly thereafter, Mai waited looking lovely in her usual elegant Fire Nation attire.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, my prince?” she asked, affecting the kind of deference he knew she loathed.

He laughed. “Cut it out, Mai. I just missed you, alright?”

“You saw me yesterday,” she said dryly. “There can be too much of a good thing, you know.”

“Very funny. Come here, would you.”

She went to him, and they kissed longer and more passionately than he usually did with her during daylight hours.

Mai pulled back. “What was that for?”

Zuko smiled. “Because you’re beautiful. And because I just saw my father and needed a friendly face.”

“What did the Fire Lord want?” Mai asked, although she didn’t really seem to be listening as she moved to pour them both some tea.

“He’s giving me new swords.”

“That’s great,” Mai said in her usual subdued tone. “Any particular reason why?”

Zuko frowned. “He thinks I shouldn’t be using Earth Kingdom swords.”

“Well, he’s right about that. It looks bad for you to carry the enemy’s weapons around.”

“They’re good swords,” he protested before pausing for a moment. “I kind of miss the Earth Kingdom.”

Mai looked as shocked as he’d ever seen her for a moment before returning to her usual placid exterior. “Why?”

“Because everything was so different. The food was different, and the people were different. Even the music and the way they took tea was different."

“Are you saying you miss working in a tea shop like a commoner?” Mai asked with a short laugh. 

Zuko found himself blushing. “Well, no. But… Wasn’t there anything about the Earth Kingdom you liked?”

She seemed to consider his words for a moment. “I liked that it wasn’t being stuck here. But it turned out to be more of the same until Azula called for me.” She finished pouring their tea and patted the spot next to her on the couch. “Come sit with me,” she said with a sly smile, clearly wanting more of his romantic attention.

But Zuko remained standing. He took a breath. “Don’t you think that maybe we shouldn’t be trying to stamp out the other nations’ cultures. Maybe we could be winning this war in a different way. Maybe we could convince the nations to surrender if they weren’t losing everything about their way of life.”

“Is this another plan like your terrible one to raise the Avatar here in the palace?”

Zuko felt a spark of irritation flare up inside of him, particularly after remembering Master Katara’s words. “It wasn’t terrible.”

“It wasn’t very good, either. And it was pretty stupid to bring it up in front of the Fire Lord like that.”

“Well, at least I’m trying to end the war peacefully,” Zuko snapped, his eyes narrowing. “Our own soldiers could come home if we just found a way to compromise. Then we could try to be a united nation with the colonies under our rule.”

He was about to go on, but Mai stopped him. “Zuko,” she said with a frown. “You know I’m not interested in court politics—or any kind of politics for that matter. You have your orders, and you know what you have to do. You’re supposed to defeat the Avatar. What’s the problem? Why are we still talking about this?”

“The problem is the Avatar is a little kid! I’m not going to—I mean, I don’t want to kill a kid. Where’s the honor in that?”

Mai tilted her head to rest it against the back of the couch, “Not this again. I’m so tired of hearing about your honor,” she groaned.

“Well, it’s important to me,” Zuko bit out, folding his arms in front of him. “Shouldn’t you care about it if only for that reason?”

She mimicked his posture and folded her own arms. “Well no, in fact. I don’t care.”

Zuko felt a storm picking up force inside of him. “Fine,” he snapped again. “Don’t listen to me, then. What does it matter, right? I bet you think I should just do what everyone says I should. Is that it, Mai? Just follow my father’s orders like you follow Azula’s?” He knew he was being combative with the person he most cared about besides his uncle, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from picking this fight.

Mai stood. “What I think is that you should go,” she said firmly.

“Yeah,” he muttered, looking away. “You’re probably right.”

Zuko felt the old anger rising inside him as he stalked out of the one place he thought would have given him a respite from everything tormenting him. He had been so sure that his girlfriend would understand some of what he was going through, but apparently not. So far the only shred of hope he’d received was that Master Katara hadn’t written him off entirely. Although, he couldn’t be sure whether he should even be listening to her in the first place. He sighed and felt the flames dancing inside him begin to smother a bit at the thought that he was all alone trying to make the biggest decision of his life. 

What would his father think if he knew the kinds of things Zuko was contemplating? What would he do to him if he knew, for that matter? Despite Ozai welcoming him back, it still didn’t feel like he trusted him. But maybe his trust wasn’t worth it in the end. And that was the most terrifying thought that had gone through Zuko’s mind so far. Because if his father wasn’t worth pleasing, then he’d wasted every opportunity his uncle had given to him, not to mention taking part in helping Azula kill the one person who was supposed to have been the hope of the entire world.

As he neared his room, Zuko forcibly pushed these thoughts away. He had a ceremony to get ready for. A set of swords awaited him, the gift pricking his heart with guilt as much as it made him happy to receive a token of his father’s esteem.

When he arrived at the throne room a short time later, his servants had dressed him in his finest ceremonial garb. The gold embroidery on his stiff mantle gleamed in the light, but the collar rose so high he almost felt as if he were trapped in a gilded cage of his own choosing. Resisting the urge to pull the material away from his neck to try to breathe easier, he stood tall and walked with his head high to take his seat at his father’s right hand on the flaming dais. Azula sat at her usual seat on their father’s left. She looked fairly bored as if she had no interest in seeing glory heaped on anyone but herself. She even yawned briefly.

“Azula,” their father warned when he saw her gesture. “Pay attention. This is an important ceremony for your brother.”

Azula bowed her head respectfully. “Of course, Father. My apologies.”

Ozai looked mollified, and the approach of the Master swordsmith caught Zuko’s attention as he approached the dais. He should have expected it, but it still surprised him to see Master Piandao, the man who had taught him for so long how to hold a blade and carry himself in battle. The Master carried his burden of the swords in their sheath resting across the top of his outstretched forearms. They didn’t shift when he get to his knees and bowed his head before them.

“Fire Lord. Your humble servant has crafted these dao as a gesture of respect and devotion. Please allow me to offer them to your heir, Fire Prince Zuko, as a token to celebrate his glorious defeat of the Earth Kingdom.”

The Fire Lord nodded, and Zuko stood from his seat, giving a deep bow to his father then a slightly less deep but still respectful bow to Master Piandao before responding with his own ceremonial speech. “It gives me great pleasure to accept your gift, Master. I will cherish them and wield them with honor. Go now with my thanks.”

An official came to divest the swords from the Master, and Piandao rose to his feet, bowing once more as he turned to go. Zuko looked around at the glowing expressions on the faces of the nobles and generals. He knew the ceremony had gone off well, but the words and gestures had felt hollow. Empty. Now he needed to carry the swords to the Fire Sages in the temple to be blessed there in private. Azula followed him off the dais.

“What do you want?” he asked under his breath as she walked by his side and they exited the palace compound.

“Why, I wanted to watch my brother get his due for his ‘glorious’ victory.”

“Yeah, right,” Zuko muttered, balancing the swords to lean against his left elbow and shoulder. “What do you really want?”

“Really, Zuzu. You’re too suspicious,” Azula said with a raised eyebrow. “Not that that’s a bad thing. But you’re right. I have things to do, and Father’s meetings with the ministers were going to drag on forever.”

“That sounds more like it.”

The two walked North towards the High Temple accompanied by their cohort of four guards. Zuko was briefly grateful that he didn’t have to ride in the palanquin for once since the trek down the twisted path to the Sages’ temple was supposed to be made on foot to show humility—even for royalty unless you were the Fire Lord himself. 

They had reached the first bend in the path where steep walls rose up around them to either side when two hooded men began to approach from the opposite direction. One of them raised his arm as if in greeting. Moments later, a guard gave a sudden grunt of surprise and then keeled over. Zuko glanced down to see a knife protruding from the man’s neck as a second guard fell to the ground from a knife thrown by the other hooded man.

“Assassins!” the third guard yelled, and he and his fellow moved into battle stance, rushing to stand in front of Zuko and Azula before sending twin jets of flame at the attackers. The two men dodged the flames easily. 

“Get out of the way, you idiots,” Azula yelled. “Zuko and I can take them.”

Before the remaining guards could comply, the assassins unleashed two more knives, and the two guards fell to the ground. Zuko drew his new dao from their sheath and charged the first assassin who abandoned his knives and likewise drew a sword. The man’s fellow drew his own sword, but he had to contend with Azula. She leaped and bounced off the path’s steep walls as she shot small bursts of blue fire in his direction. Despite dodging the flames, the assassin would surely begin to slow, and Azula would claim another victory.

Zuko needed to concentrate on his own enemy, and he unleashed a flurry of blows that the man countered easily. This guy was good, Zuko thought. There wasn’t much room on the path to circle and strike, so he lunged forward to thrust and slash. Both men worked to disarm or wound the other with their attacks. Zuko circled his wrist deftly as he parried with the sword, just as the assassin did, each trying to make the other’s blade fly from their hand. A cut from the swordsman reached through his defenses, and Zuko hissed as the blade made contact with his arm before he knocked it away. 

A shriek from the second attacker indicated that Azula had managed to land a fireball. Taking advantage of that moment of distraction to drop to a low position, Zuko swung his arms out and struck two long, sweeping blows across his opponent’s shins just as he’d always practiced in his forms. Blood gushed, and the man shouted and fell to the ground.

Before Zuko could move to subdue him, he looked over at Azula, who blasted a sheet of flame towards her opponent. The fire immolated the assassin, who flopped and cried out as he burned before going still moments later. Zuko turned to his own opponent, who lay on the ground before him and whose harsh breathing echoed in the air. He stepped forward to demand answers before the man passed out from blood loss. As he did so, Azula sent another doubly-large fireball towards the assassin whose brief scream was cut short. Thanks to instinct from his familiarity with his sister’s violent tendencies, Zuko was able to leap out of the way before he himself could be singed.

“Two for two,” Azula said with satisfaction, looking down on the men whose bodies smoked and burned. The smell made Zuko’s stomach churn, but his sister seemed to be relishing the moment. He turned on her.

“What did you do that for?” Zuko shouted. “We needed one alive to interrogate so we could find out who sent them.”

Azula flipped her hair. “I got caught up in the moment,” she said, barely winded from her exertions. “And he looked like he had another knife ready. Besides, they must have come from the Earth Kingdom. Probably part of the rebellion there. Or they acted on their own.” She shrugged. “Either way, you’re lucky I was here to save you.”

“You didn’t save me, and I didn’t need your help,” Zuko said through gritted teeth.

“Whatever you say, Zuzu. Too bad about your swords. There’s no way the Sages will bless them not that they’ve been used. Although I suppose a little bloodshed is the best blessing you could ask for. We better get you back to get that arm looked at.”

He looked down at the wound on his arm where his opponent had scored a hit. It felt and looked like only a shallow cut since he’d been wearing his robes with the heavier fabric for the ceremony. It could have been much worse, but the wound still stung. He had Master Piandao’s incredible swords to thank for the fact that it hadn’t been a bad enough blow to disarm him. The dao had glided through the air like tiger-sharks through water, responding to his every gesture in a way his Earth Kingdom swords hadn’t.

Azula turned, and Zuko could only follow her back down the path to the palace. As he did so, he forced his mind to concentrate on the implications of what had just happened despite the adrenaline that coursed through his body. The assassin he’d fought hadn’t felt like he fought in the Earth Kingdom style, despite what Azula had said. Zuko had fought enough Earth Kingdom citizens to know how they moved. It had almost felt more like his opponent had come from the Fire Nation instead. 

Which was crazy.

Why would anyone from the Fire Nation attack them?

The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became. Maybe he was being paranoid, but it was awfully convenient that Azula had been there to silence the second assassin. What if she had somehow arranged the whole thing and didn’t want to be exposed? And could he be absolutely certain the attempt hadn’t been organized by his father? It was clear the Fire Lord preferred Azula. Maybe they had plotted together to remove him from being the one in line for the throne. There were too many possibilities.

All he knew was that he needed to watch his back—now more than ever.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I ever actually said how old these two are in this fic? I don’t think I ever did… For the sake of this fic, Zuko is around 19 and Katara is 17. So when I said aged up in the tags and having spent a few years on their travels, I really meant it.
> 
> Thanks as always for reading and for the lovely encouragement to keep going! It means a lot to me!

Katara spent the entire night flopping back and forth on her bed trying to adjust her plans to take into account the little she’d learned from her time around Zuko and the ladies. She realized they had let nothing slip about Sokka, but at least Zuko seemed like he was someone she could work with. If she could just get him to recognize that the Fire Nation was wrong in its war against the other nations, then maybe together they could leave the palace and her imprisonment behind. Otherwise, she had the sense she was running out of time. 

Her chances of escape would be sorely diminished if Zuko decided to stick together with his bloodthirsty family. Worse yet, she still didn’t know where Sokka was being held. Her brother was just as stubborn as she was when it came down to it. Surely he would keep quiet and refuse to give up any information just as she was doing. Besides, even if she did tell them something about the Southern and Northern Tribes, she had a feeling the Fire Lord would eventually kill them both anyways. Better to put up a fight and to die a death she and her family could be proud of in the end.

Katara sighed. She felt the power of the moon waning in the sky even from within her comfortable cell wherever the room sat within the palace compound. It was the morning of a new day, and Xuě and Lin would be arriving before long. Rolling out of bed, she climbed to her feet and reached for her robe before stretching the kinks out of her neck and her arms. It felt as if she’d spent a night on a bed of nails rather than a downy mattress covered in pillows. She was seriously looking forward to going through her forms. Then she’d probably get another visit from Zuko like usual unless she’d scared him off the day before. It had been a promising start to convincing him that he needed to free her, although that seemed like it would be a long haul. At least she’d disabused him of the idea of kidnapping and raising the Avatar here in the Fire Nation. She shook her head. What had he been thinking? He obviously still didn’t understand the importance of pushing back against his home country and breaking their rule over the other nations.

Katara sat at her mirror and ran her comb through her hair, working out the tangles before reassembling her usual hair loops. They couldn’t take this part of her culture away, even if they’d taken her Water Tribe clothing. Touching her mother’s necklace, she took a calming breath. She would get out of here. She had to. Worrying about what was to come wouldn’t help, but continuing to assess her surroundings would.

A knock on the door heralded the arrival of the ladies before she could practice her forms. They entered, looking more fresh and far more energized than Katara was after she’d stayed up all night. These firebenders really did “rise with the sun” after all, if Zuko was to be believed.

Xuě and Lin moved with a spring in both of their steps, but they still didn’t rush forward to get her dressed as they usually did. If she wasn’t mistaken, the duo was more keyed-up than they ever had been before.

“Good morning, my lady,” Xuě said, bowing her head slightly.

“Morning,” Katara said, not seeing what good it would do her to be rude. She’d never thought of looking to the two of them for help in escaping, but maybe she should at least try to endear herself to them—if only so they would let down their guard around her.

Lin looked like she could barely contain some information. That wasn’t so surprising. Both of them had eased up around her after Zuko’s insistence that they treat her with respect. The two ladies now liked to talk and gossip amongst themselves about members of the court, but they had always left Katara out of the conversations since she had no idea who they were referring to whenever they brought up the different Fire Nation names and stations. What _was_ surprising was that now it seemed like Lin wanted Katara to ask her something.

“Uh. Is there anything I should know about going on this morning?” she ventured.

Lin’s eyes were bright as she replied, “Only that the prince might not visit you again today, my lady.”

Her heart sank slightly. If Zuko didn’t visit, then she couldn’t try to sway him to her cause. “Why not?” she asked.

“There was an attack by two assassins against the Prince and the Princess,” Xuě butted in as if she couldn’t resist sharing in the conversation.

Katara frowned. “Really? Are they okay?” She couldn’t muster any enthusiasm for inquiring about Azula, but she felt a genuine moment of concern for Zuko. She needed him for an ally, and if he was hurt before the Day of Black Sun, then she might not be able to put a plan into motion.

“They defeated their attackers single-handedly,” Lin exclaimed with satisfaction in her voice. “Princess Azula killed them both while Prince Zuko fought his opponent without bending at all. He used only his swords until the Princess joined him.” Lin sighed slightly. “She is so accomplished in fighting, and she was always such a joy to watch at the Academy. So graceful and deadly—” 

Lin broke off and blushed when Xuě nudged her as if realizing she was gushing. The girl amended, “Our prince defended himself handily as well, of course.”

“That’s great,” Katara said, and she meant it this time. Her possible ally staying in one piece was all she could have hoped for. Deep in her heart, she knew she would have been overjoyed if Azula had been cut down by an assassin’s blade, but she would just have to be happy for the fact that the girl had helped Zuko survive. Katara frowned as a small voice said she shouldn’t be hoping for the death and destruction of her enemies, but it was hard not to want that for the person who had killed her best friend. Azula deserved it for what she’d done to Aang.

“The prince was hurt, but I heard he is bearing his wound admirably,” Xuě continued. “We are so lucky that both of them are so adept at fighting. Either one will make a formidable ruler.”

“I guess,” Katara said, but she shuddered at the thought of Azula on the throne. Zuko’s sister would truly be a terror to behold were she ever to be crowned. If Katara and her allies actually managed to defeat the Fire Lord, it would be better if Zuko himself took Ozai’s place in ruling over the Fire Nation.

Not “if” they defeated Ozai, she corrected herself. When.

She had to hold onto hope and the belief that they would stop him before there was any more violence against her people and those of the Earth Kingdom.

Now that they’d shared their information with her, Xuě and Lin began to help Katara dress despite her protestations that she could do it herself. The duo kept up a steady, easy chatter with each other about every detail of the assassination attempt until Katara was ready to clap her hands over her ears just to stop hearing about it. They tugged her robe's shoulders and cuffs into order just before a knock sounded on the door warning them of someone’s imminent arrival. The door opened, and a guard poked her head in.

“The prince will be here shortly,” she said to the trio, and the ladies started their usual dash to make Katara even more presentable. She batted their hands away from her.

“For the sake of all the Spirits, it’s just Zuko. I don’t care how I look!” she finally exclaimed to their absolute horror after Lin tried to pinch color into Katara’s cheeks.

When he entered, the ladies made their usual obeisances and left Zuko alone with her. She looked him over, curious how he fared after an attempt on his life. He looked much the same except for that he wore a simple sleeveless tunic over his usual trousers and shoes. It looked like it was meant to avoid any clothes touching the large white bandage covering his upper bicep on his right arm.

“Are you okay?” Katara asked without preamble, unable to keep the note of concern out of her voice. She told herself it was just to be friendly and to convince him to trust her. Kindness for that reason alone wasn’t a bad thing. “That looks pretty serious.”

Zuko looked at her, and if she could guess at what he was feeling it was…bewilderment? He must have thought she would rejoice at his injury. Well, she wasn’t going to be that kind of person, Katara decided.

“It’s not too bad,” he said, brushing off the injury as if it didn’t hurt him, which it obviously must. He winced as he unthinkingly reached up to rub the back of his neck. “Thanks for asking, though.”

“I’d heal it for you if I had some water,” Katara said, and she realized it wasn’t just an attempt to get some water to siphon off for later like she had with the tea. She really would help him if she could. The thought made her bite her lip, knowing she couldn’t very well use the water she had saved for her escape. They weren’t that close yet, and she didn’t trust him not to take it away from her if he knew about it.

He ducked his head a little. “That’s okay,” he said gruffly, seeming bashful at her words. “I can’t stay long. Look,” he said slowly, “Master Katara…”

“Just—just Katara is fine,” she interrupted, unsure if she should allow him the familiarity of just her first name. But if they were to forge an alliance, then she needed to let him get a little closer to her.

“Katara,” he said, his voice quiet as if saying her name without the honorific made whatever emotion he was feeling more intense than it had been before. He fell silent after that.

“Yes?” she prompted, curious to hear whatever he had to say.

He paused a long moment and then bowed his head to her in a gesture of respect before meeting her eyes. “Katara. I’m sorry I played a part in Avatar Aang’s death. I really am.”

Katara looked at him for a long time. “You are?” she asked, a little shocked that he would admit it.

“Yes. I am. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would make sure he wasn’t killed.”

She felt something in her heart twist, but something about his words also rubbed her the wrong way. “That’s it?” she demanded. “You just would have kept him from dying? You wouldn’t have helped us? Because it seemed like that was what you were going to do.”

“I don’t know,” he said as he clenched his fists tightly. “I feel like—” he faltered before looking away from her as if it was too difficult to maintain eye contact and say whatever he needed to say.

“Like what?”

He blew out a sharp breath of frustration. “Like I should have done better. Like I could have somehow made everyone happy if I’d just tried harder. I could have fixed things. I just can’t figure out what I could have done differently.”

“Zuko,” Katara said, frowning. “I honestly don’t think there would have been any way to bring us all together. Not with what your father and your sister want. Your uncle was right. You should have joined the Avatar when you had the chance.”

Zuko closed his eyes. “Then I failed,” he said, his voice hoarse. “No wonder Uncle won’t speak to me.”

“Is your uncle at the prison?” she asked.

“Yeah. It's a difficult place to survive in. And it’s hard to see him like that. Treated like a traitor, I mean.”

“Is that where they’re keeping Sokka?” Katara asked in a rush. If she just knew where he was, she could try to work it into her plans.

“Uh. Not exactly,” Zuko said with a vague gesture and a furtive look.

He must not be allowed to tell her where Sokka was, she thought with a sense of disappointment. Well, that made sense since he didn’t trust her yet.

“I have to go,” Zuko blurted as if he’d said too much. Katara tried to rein in her disappointment at not hearing about her brother. “There’s a meeting today I can’t miss,” he said. “One of many.”

“Okay. Well, thanks. For what you said about Aang, I mean.”

“Yeah.” He looked down awkwardly. “I’ll just…go then. But I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“I’d like that,” she found herself saying. And she kind of meant it.

He nodded and left her once more. Katara’s thoughts rushed around her head as she tried to make sense of what he’d said. Maybe there was an alliance brewing between the two of them. It would be surprising, but the possibility was there, nevertheless. She couldn’t hold in a small smile. Her hope was now alive and well, and there was little more she could wish for under the current circumstances.

***

Zuko stopped by the next day. And the next. And the day after that as well.

There came a morning not too long afterwards when Katara rolled out of bed and stretched only to find herself looking forward to his visit. How strange was that? she thought to herself. But there was no denying that the alliance she was trying to build was blossoming into actual friendship. She appreciated his utter earnestness and even the hints of a sense of humor that he was beginning to show her. It was rare, but it was there—mostly in the way he would snort at the bad jokes she would make about what she saw as ridiculous Fire Nation etiquette. Not to mention her aversion to the spicy food.

He was beginning to open up, talking about his adventures with his Uncle. Sometimes he was chagrined at his actions, and sometimes he seemed almost proud of things he’d done. Mostly he just seemed lost, as when he talked about rescuing a small Earth Kingdom boy from a group of thugs only to be shunned by the villagers when he revealed who he was with his firebending. Not that Katara could blame them for being filled with fear and hatred. It wasn’t that long ago that she’d felt the same emotions when it came to the Fire Nation prince.

Perhaps just as surprising was the relationship growing between her and the ladies. That afternoon they took their tea together as usual, and Katara found herself interrupting their chatter when a lull in the conversation presented itself.

“You both seem to know everything that’s going on at the court. Were you born here in the Capital?” Katara asked.

The two fell silent for a change as if shocked that she was taking an interest in them. It was Xuě who spoke up first. Katara had come to notice that the girl seemed to take the lead in their interactions, although Lin’s enthusiasm never kept her far behind.

“We’re both from the Colonies,” Xuě said.

“Really? Where? And how did you get here?”

“My father is the governor of Yu Dao in the Northern Earth Kingdom. He sent me to the Academy when I was of age.”

Katara thought for a moment. “It must have been hard to leave your family.”

“You have no idea,” Xuě said dryly. “The other girls mocked me mercilessly for my name. It was my mother’s fault. She insisted I be called Xuě after I was born on the first day of a snowfall. For luck. Fire Nation girls can be cruel if you’re different.” She shrugged. “It toughened my skin.”

“It’s difficult for those from the Colonies to prove they’re really Fire Nation here in the Capital,” Lin added. “My family is from Liuzhen in the Western Earth Kingdom. I didn’t have it as bad as Xuě, but we banded together once I arrived.”

“I’ve never heard of that city,” Katara admitted. “I don’t know the Earth Kingdom very well.

“It’s near the flooded city. Gaipan.”

“I’ve been there!” Katara exclaimed. “My brother is the one who got the villagers out in time.”

The ladies stared at her.

“What?” she asked.

“Fire Nation soldiers got everyone out of the village. Everybody knows that,” Xuě said in a confused tone. “We would have heard if it was your brother.”

Katara watched as the ladies fell silent, obviously wondering if they should trust her or trust the Fire Nation’s propaganda. The usual knock on the door Katara had been expecting interrupted any opportunity to pursue the subject. The same guard as always stuck her head in.

“He’s here,” was all she said. They were all used to Zuko’s regular visits by now, it seemed. 

The ladies rose as one, but Katara remained seated. Before the usual maneuvering of Zuko coming in and the ladies going out could take place, she interrupted them to ask the prince, “Would you like to have some tea with us? We were just talking about the Colonies in the Earth Kingdom.”

She wasn’t sure who looked more surprised, Zuko or the ladies.

“Um. Okay,” Zuko said, seeming a little unsure. Katara was positive this must be a massive breach of Fire Nation etiquette if the expressions on Xuě and Lin’s faces were anything to go by. 

Katara scooted over at the table and said, “Come sit with me.”

Was that a faint blush on Zuko’s face? Maybe he was just shy. She noticed he was back to wearing his regular princely attire, so his arm must not be paining him anymore.

He joined her while Xuě and Lin sat on the other side of the table. They all started out making stilted conversation about the Colonies’ customs versus Fire Nation ones. Before long, though, Zuko began talking about his adventures in the Earth Kingdom. The ladies were clearly enraptured to hear about their former home from his perspective. 

“You were in the Earth Kingdom for some time, my lady,” Lin said. “Is there anything you miss about it?”

Katara thought for a moment. “I miss the open landscape where it felt like you could see all the way to the edge of the world. I also miss the different plants and trees. We often flew over fields of flowers that looked like an ocean of blue. I don’t know what they were.”

“Blue poppies,” Lin murmured, sounding homesick for a moment.

Katara smiled. “I might even find something to miss about the desert if I thought about it hard enough. At least it would be away from this room.”

Zuko looked down at his tea for a moment before clearing his throat. “We could go to the gardens, I guess. If you really need a change, that is. They’re here in the palace area.” 

Katara gasped. “That would be amazing.” 

He nodded. “I can’t really take you to my favorite spot since it has a pond,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he so often did when he was embarrassed. It must have been because he’d implied Katara couldn’t be trusted near a water source. Which, of course, she couldn’t.

“That’s okay. It would be nice just to get a change of scenery.”

Xuě coughed into her hand. “It would be best if we accompanied you, my lady. If his highness doesn’t mind.”

Right, Katara thought, her heart falling for a moment. They were her guards. Not her friends, despite how friendly they’d become in such a relatively short time.

When they left her room, it felt like Katara could breathe freely for the first time since arriving in the Fire Nation. Courtiers gave her curious glances as she walked beside Zuko. He led her down various hallways until they stepped out into the sunlight and fresh air of the gardens. Katara looked around her in wonder. She hadn’t seen anything like it in the Earth Kingdom, and she definitely hadn’t seen anything like it at home in the South Pole or in the North Pole. Everything was formalized in style, and there was a rigid hierarchy even down to the bushes and flowers. These were planted in a layout that had obviously been refined to within an inch of its life, possibly for centuries.

Katara breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of the plants. She could sense a tinge of water in the air more than the usual humidity of the Fire Nation. Perhaps it was the pond Zuko had spoken of. She looked behind her as he began to lead her down one of the paths. The ladies both stood a respectful distance away with the other guards, but it was clear there would be no escape attempt today.

Zuko seemed to be searching for something to say. “It sounds like you saw better parts of the Earth Kingdom than I did. Or at least had a better time while you were there.”

“Well, I was on Appa. We got to see a lot more of the world on the back of a sky bison. That’s where I saw all the flowers.” She paused, unsure if she should say what she was thinking but decided to plow forward anyway. “I wish you could have seen it too. I think you would have liked it.”

Zuko nodded with a small smile. “It sounds beautiful.” He looked around him and reached out his hand to one of the many groupings of fire lilies.

“Here,” he said abruptly as he broke one of the bright orange-red flowers from off its stem. “I don’t think I could talk the royal gardeners into planting blue flowers. They really like their red patterns, so a fire lily will have to do.”

Katara stared at him.

“I mean—if you want it. You don’t have to. I just saw you have a vase in your room, is all, and you really seem to like flowers…” he babbled, obviously embarrassed at the gesture.

Katara smiled. It was kind of him. Kind! What a change.

“I love it. Thanks, Zuko,” she said, keeping the moment light.

“No problem,” he said, although he still sounded flustered. He looked out at the gardens with an unfocused look she hadn’t seen from him before. It seemed as if he was lost in memories.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “It’s just that I was realizing that my mother must have felt trapped in the palace. She tended to spend so much time here in the outdoors. I can’t blame her. I hate it in there, too.”

“You do?” Katara asked, surprised.

“Yeah. I actually think I preferred when I was on the move and exploring the other nations while I…uh—” he broke off awkwardly.

“While you were hunting us,” Katara finished for him.

“Have I mentioned lately that I’m really sorry about that?”

“Yes, but I’m still not tired of hearing you say it,” she said, although she nudged him with her shoulder to let him know she was joking.

He looked startled, as if he wasn’t used to being touched in a friendly way. It made her sad for him for a moment that he’d obviously been so alone growing up and was still alone even now as an adult.

Zuko gazed at the flowers for a moment longer. “I wonder how different things would be if everyone from the Capital could see the world like I did. Those years changed me.” He turned to look down at her face. “I know it probably doesn’t seem that way since I chose what I chose. But it did.”

Katara nodded. “My own journey was definitely eye-opening,” she agreed. “We met these people in the Foggy Swamp who were also water benders. They had their own unique culture and their bending was really interesting, too.”

“How did they do it?” Zuko asked, watching her with interest as she became more animated. Katara could never help but be excited whenever she talked about waterbending.

“There was one man who could bend the plants in the swamp. He would move them and attack with the vines and greenery itself. It was amazing.”

“Huh. I’ve never heard of plant benders.” 

“I think he must have just been bending the water inside the plants.”

“That’s possible? There must be water inside of all sorts of things.”

Katara nodded. “I guess so. I’ve never really thought about using my bending on living things, but I’m realizing there are all kinds of possibilities I never thought of when it comes to waterbending.” Despite her enthusiasm for the subject, Katara fell quiet. She was worried she’d said too much about having access to water as she thought of her growing supply in her room that had still remained undetected. Not to mention that she wasn’t sure if she should be meddling with fluids related to the body or living creatures. It seemed like there were lines that could be crossed that shouldn’t be crossed. She wished she had someone to talk to about it who would understand her need for any advantage right now and who would be able to give her advice.

Katara realized she’d been quiet for too long. Trying to move away from the topic, she said, “It’s too bad the Fire Nation can’t see that the other nations’ cultures are just as important as your people’s way of life is to them.”

Zuko looked away for a moment, then his eyes returned to Katara’s. “Maybe I could change that when I’m Fire Lord.”

Her eyes widened. The words sounded almost treasonous, despite him being the heir to the throne. It was clear that Ozai intended to hold onto his power as long as he possibly could. 

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I mean, I’ve seen what the other nations are like. They’re not as bad as we’ve all been told. I grew up hearing that we were glorious conquerors and that we needed to bring culture and civilization to the other nations, but I know that’s not really what the war is all about. It’s about my people wanting power and the access to resources they don’t want anyone else to have.”

Katara gave Zuko a small smile. “I have hope for you if you’ve figured that out, Zuko. I really do.”

His face remained impassive, but his eyes lit up at her words. He began to talk more about the work he would do to improve relations with the other nations, from trying to make sure everyone had enough food and supplies to stopping conscription into the army. As he did so, she tried to pay attention with only one half of her mind while the other scanned the walls of the palace in the distance and at the edges of the gardens.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care what he had to say. Far from it. But the Day of Black Sun was coming when she would be making her escape attempt, no matter how badly-planned or badly-executed it might be. She should be focusing on that and assessing the grounds for weak points now that she was finally out of her room. Instead, she couldn’t help but just enjoy this moment with someone she was beginning to like for himself and for who he was. Katara held the flower he had given her gently in her hand, and the two walked on together, shutting out the world for a brief time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm so glad people are interested in reading an Aang-less Avatar story. (Not that I dislike Aang.) Zuko's perspective for this chapter, and they'll continue to alternate throughout the next seven chapters or so.

Zuko and Katara wandered around parts of the gardens for a few hours, chatting and sometime just standing and looking at the beauty around them. There were still several awkward moments between them where he felt like he said the wrong thing or didn’t know what to say to keep the conversation going at all. But Katara helped him out by turning to topics that weren’t quite so loaded as the ones that involved him hunting the Avatar in the past.

She was currently telling him all about the joys of something called penguin sledding. He was dubious about how much fun it would actually be, but Katara was laughing as she demonstrated with her hands the swoops and turns she had taken on top of one of the creatures.

“There are all these ramps and tunnels you can sled down. And you go so fast! It’s way better than regular sledding. I’m probably a little too old for it. Okay, that’s not true,” she laughed. “I’m probably just too big to ride anymore unless it was a really large otter-penguin.”

Zuko nodded. “You make it sound like fun. I don’t know how you stood the cold, though. I thought I was going to freeze to death every time I visited the South Pole or the North Pole.”

Katara faced him with her hands on her hips. “Well, maybe you would have been fine if you had been wearing a decent parka and weren’t jumping in the water or walking into a blizzard every five minutes.” Her smile let him know she wasn’t being entirely serious.

“Maybe,” Zuko said, but he couldn’t keep a corresponding small smile off his face. He’d never been around someone who was this funny and cheerful. Ty Lee seemed to have her beat in the cheerful category, and he personally found Mai’s dour pronouncements to be hilarious. But Katara’s personality was such an interesting mix of serious and fiery and strangely funny all at the same time. 

He often had to remind himself that she was his prisoner and he was supposed to be gaining information on the Avatar from her. He most certainly wasn’t supposed to be enjoying spending time with her. Maybe she was just trying to manipulate him into letting her go like she had once asked him to do. It was the kind of thing Azula would do. It was the kind of thing he himself might have tried if he was better at subterfuge. 

The thought made him uncomfortable as he tried to work out whether this was all a trick.

Katara didn’t seem to notice his shift in mood. She was saying, “It’s too bad you couldn’t experience penguin sledding yourself. It’s the best. It really is.” Her excitement made her eyes glow in a way he hadn’t seen yet around her.

It seemed so genuine. He found himself hoping it was real after all. He realized she was waiting for him to say something in return. All he could think of was, “Do they have penguin sledding in the North Pole, too?”

Katara shook her head. “No. The otter-penguins only live in the South Pole. But they do have koala-otters in the North Pole. I was too busy training with Master Pakku to see if the Northern Tribe members did anything for fun with them, though.”

“That’s when you became a waterbending Master,” he guessed.

“Yes. It was pretty intense. He didn’t even want to train me at first since I’m a girl. I had to fight him in a duel to get him to take me seriously. Can you believe that?”

“Can I believe you would fight a Master to prove you could do something everyone said you couldn’t? No, that doesn’t sound like you at all,” Zuko said dryly before nudging her shoulder in a hesitant gesture just as she’d done to him earlier.

Katara stared at him for a moment then laughed. “Zuko. Did you just make a joke?”

“Hey! I make jokes,” he protested. “Just not very often,” he amended at Katara’s skeptical look.

“What I wouldn’t give to be back in the North Pole. Or even better, to be home,” she said with a pained smile. “I miss the South so much more than I miss anything from the Earth Kingdom. I miss how the snow looks in the morning sunrise or eating my Gran Gran’s sea prunes. And I miss bending,” she said quietly. “I’ve never gone so long without it. I feel like I’ve lost a part of myself.”

Her brutal honesty made him feel conflicted. For a moment, he thought about what he could possibly be able to do about her unhappiness. Then he nodded his head decisively. “You should train with me tomorrow. We could spar together.”

She looked so surprised at his offer that she tripped slightly as they walked down the smooth gravel path. “You would do that?” 

Her eyes looked so hopeful that he couldn’t stand to see them. He looked away. “Sure. It would have to be at dawn so not very many people would be around. Everyone knows that’s when I always practice my bending, so they tend to stay away.” He paused. “I could probably learn a lot from you and from watching your technique.”

She frowned. “What could you possibly learn from watching me bend?”

“My uncle once said that it was ‘important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale.’” He lowered his voice. “He taught me how to work with a move inspired by waterbender motions. I can’t really talk about it here. It’s not a good idea.”

His secrecy looked like it only intrigued her more, but she let the idea go to his great relief. If people knew he had learned a move modified from waterbending culture, it would be frowned on to say the least--particularly if it countered a lauded firebending technique like calling and directing lightning. And if his father or Azula found out he could deflect their lightning…? It wasn’t something he wanted to think about.

But here he was practically sharing with a waterbender something that could easily be interpreted as heresy against Fire Nation custom—or worse, treason.

“I should take you back to your room,” he said, feeling like he had pushed his luck as far as he could for the day. It would undoubtedly get around throughout the palace gossip system that he was here walking with her. There would be even more talk if they saw him training with her the next day. But he was the prince, he reminded himself. If anyone could put their foot down and bend the rules, it should be him. Something in the back of his mind told him he might be going too far in the eyes of his family and his people, but he didn’t care for once. He wanted this for himself, and he would face the consequences later if there were any.

Katara nodded, her face falling. He knew she hated being trapped in her room. It was probably still a good idea to keep her there not only because she was a prisoner, but because something told him that Azula wouldn’t hesitate to “accidentally” hurt her or take offense at some slight and injure her on purpose if she had the opportunity.

At a gesture to her ladies in waiting—Xuě and Lin, he reminded himself—they walked back to Katara’s room. He nodded to her before leaving, saying only, “Tomorrow, then?”

“Tomorrow,” Katara agreed.

As he left, he felt a tension between the unfamiliar and buoyant happiness filling his chest and the nagging sense that this all had the potential to go down in flames.

***

Zuko leaped out of bed the next morning before the sun had even risen. He dressed in his usual tunic and pants he wore for training and hurried to Katara’s room. There was a spring in his step he couldn’t quite account for other than that he looked forward to whatever was going to happen when they entered the sparring ring.

When he reached Katara’s door, the usual guards saw him coming and pulled the door open for him. He nodded his thanks, something he never used to do. Inside, he was slightly taken aback to find Katara out of her usual fancy Fire Nation clothes. She was instead wearing a casual top that showed her midriff and a pair of pants, both in red. It made sense that she would need to move if she was going to bend, though.

“Ready to go?” he asked her, and she nodded.

“You better believe it,” she said, looking as if she was practically rubbing her hands together in anticipation. 

Xuě and Lin hovered behind her in the background.

“I suppose you’re both coming with us, too?” he asked them.

“If it pleases your highness,” Xuě said with a low bow.

“I guess you’d better,” he sighed as he gestured for Katara to precede him out the door. It was completely against Fire Nation etiquette, and the ladies’ eyes widened. He told himself he was just showing her the respect she was due as a Master bender and as a high-ranking Water Tribe member. It was, however, one more thing that could lead to talk if he wasn't careful.

Shoving the thought away, he joined Katara and guided her down the hallways to where one emptied out onto the training area. She took in the sandy arena and the racks of weapons standing nearby before clearing her throat.

“So… How exactly am I supposed to bend? I don’t have any water.”

Zuko held up a water skin. “I came prepared.”

Katara’s eyes lit up as he handed it to her. He pretended not to notice the guards shifting uncomfortably in the background and the nervous looks on Xuě and Lin’s faces. They all ranged themselves around the ring as if they were an audience attending a match rather than guards who would fry Katara to a crisp if she tried anything. He guessed he couldn’t blame them since their lives would probably be forfeit if something happened to him.

Katara drew a stream of water out of the vessel and began to circle it in the air in front of her. Delight filled her face, and he watched the smooth motions of her hands as she played with her element. It didn’t look like she had to reacquaint herself with it as he’d expected. Maybe she was just that good. She was a Master after all, he thought.

“You ready?” he asked her.

“Don’t worry, Zuko,” she teased with a smile. “I’ll go easy on you this first round.”

“Very funny, waterbender,” he said with a small smile in exchange to take any sting out of his words. “But you’re about to lose. It’s my time of day, remember?”

“Oh, I remember. I also remember I owe you for knocking me out at the North Pole.”

He could feel his face flush at that in chagrin, but she didn’t really put much bite in the words. Turning from her, he settled himself into position a short distance away.

“Ready when you are,” he said, and she lashed out at him with a water whip almost before the words were out of his mouth. He leaped away, off balance for a moment, but saved himself with a deft movement of his feet that kept him upright.

“Cheat much?” he called out to her.

“It’s not cheating. It’s called winning,” she shot back with a wicked smile as she sent another water whip his way.

He was ready for it this time, though. Planting his feet, he raised his arms and shot a ball of fire into the water, knocking it away before sending another one towards her. She dodged it easily and sprayed water at him, encasing his arm up to the elbow in solid ice.

His next fireball shattered the ice. Before he could evaporate her water and steal her element from her, Katara dropped it in a splashing sheet towards his feet. It solidified in seconds, forming into an ice slick that forced him to stumble and hit the ground for a moment.

Lin and Xuě clapped for Katara’s win in a way that was somehow both properly restrained yet enthusiastic at the same time. It surprised him. They must be forming some kind of relationship between the three of them. 

Zuko gritted his teeth and turned back to Katara. “Okay. No holding back this time,” he challenged her.

She smirked. “You got it, but don’t say I didn’t warn you if you end up on the ground again.”

He let out a small growl at her words and climbed to his feet before regaining his stance. This time when she threw a water whip his way, he leaped into the air, swiveling and kicking his leg out to send a fireball out of the sole of his foot. Katara dropped to the ground to avoid it, but Zuko kept coming, feeling at ease on the offensive this time around.

He locked himself into position once his feet were back on the ground and brought his wrists together before shooting a wall of flame towards his opponent. Bringing her arms up in a smooth motion, Katara created a column of ice that she hid behind to disrupt the blaze. Zuko found himself on the defensive yet again when she began shooting discs of ice off the column and hurtling them towards him with graceful but deadly precision.

Refusing to allow her to beat him this time, he did a roundhouse kick, arcing the flame to engulf the discs before launching himself into the air. He began to pummel her with balls of fire that shot from his jabbing fists as he fell back down towards the ground.

Katara created an ice shield over her head to guard against the assault. When Zuko landed, he did it right in front of her before extending his fist to within a few inches of her face.

“Yield?” he asked, panting slightly.

“Draw,” Katara said, glancing upwards and drawing his attention to the array of ice daggers hanging over him.

He stared at them, but he couldn’t hold in a laugh as she turned the daggers into a shower of water that rained over them both.

“Hey!” he exclaimed before stepping backwards to bow to her. She mirrored the formalized gesture of respect.

“That was a good one. Best two out of three?” he offered, but the tense look on her face made him pause and glance around to see what had unnerved her.

Every single one of the guards had their arms poised and ready to incinerate Katara, including Lin and Xuě.

“Are you well, my prince?” one of the guards called out immediately.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Zuko yelled back, irritated that they had killed the mood with their willingness to blast his opponent off the face of the earth.

“Maybe we should stop,” Katara said, biting her lip.

“Yeah. Maybe so,” he muttered.

“I really enjoyed that, though,” she said. “Thank you for bringing me here. You’ve gotten really good. Your flames are much more powerful than when we fought in the early days.”

“Thanks,” he said, ducking his head. “My uncle trained me a lot in our spare time and while we were traveling throughout the Earth Kingdom.”

He appreciated her praise, because he sensed she wouldn’t have given it if she didn’t mean it. It gives him a satisfied feeling to have done what seemed like a good thing by inviting her here. By trusting her. If she was to be believed, that feeling was because he was thinking of someone else’s happiness and comfort for once.

They approached the edge of the ring where they met the guards and the ladies in waiting. Katara lazily spun the water around her hands as if she didn’t want to let it go.

“You were very good, my lady,” Lin offered as if to apologize for almost frying her.

“Amazing,” Xuě agreed.

“Yes. Amazing,” a voice Zuko recognized all too well drawled from behind the group. 

His shoulders snapped upwards slightly in a defensive posture he couldn’t resist making.

The small crowd around them immediately parted, revealing Azula who had a mocking smile on her face. “Who knew poor Zuzu would have such a hard time taking on one little waterbender? I’m surprised it took that much effort to win.” She raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you just needed my help like last time.”

Zuko tried not to wince at the casual mention of Katara’s defeat at their hands underneath Ba Sing Se. 

“Maybe you should climb in the ring with me and find out just how much effort it would really take,” Katara snapped. The inflammatory comment flew out of her mouth a little too quickly for Zuko’s comfort. Why was she antagonizing Azula? He didn’t want to see her hurt as she obviously would be if his sister had her way—which she usually did.

“That’s enough for today. Give me back the water,” he said in as stern a tone as he could manage. No need for Azula to know how friendly he and Katara were actually becoming lately.

Katara stared at him as if she couldn’t believe he wasn’t sticking up for her.

“Now, waterbender!” he snapped.

Her eyes darkened with anger, and she channeled the water she held into the water skin so quickly a fine spray misted over his hands where he held it out to her.

“Take her back to her room,” he ordered Xuě and Lin, who bowed meekly to both Zuko and Azula before shepherding Katara away alongside the two other guards.

Azula watched the small group leave. As she did so, he saw that same old calculating look spread across her face. She turned to him once Katara was out of sight.

“Really, Zuko. What would father say if he could see you slumming it with our esteemed prisoner? And do you really think it’s a good idea to bring her out here where she could possibly escape? You need to think things through for a change, big brother.”

“Father doesn’t need to know,” Zuko snapped. “Agni, Azula. She wasn’t going to escape. I had it under control.”

Azula cocked her head to the side to observe him. “Did you? It was hard to tell. Besides, I fail to see how this gets you any closer to the location of the new Avatar.”

“I’m trying a new tactic, alright?”

She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Winning over the old Avatar’s girlfriend. I’ll admit, it’s more sly than I would take you for. Just be careful it doesn’t blow up in your face. You have some leeway with your behavior now that you’re back in Father’s good graces, but don’t take it for granted.”

“She wasn’t his girlfriend,” he found himself saying before he thought better of it.

“Really? How interesting,” Azula said with a smirk. “Lots of heartfelt conversations between the two of you, then, I take it?”

“That’s right,” he said, gritting his teeth. “I know what I’m doing, Azula.”

“I hope so for your sake, dear brother. I hope so.” She gave him one of her smiles. It looked like a satisfied tiger-shark about to take a chunk out of some poor sailor with its razor sharp teeth. 

“I came out here to tell you myself. Father’s called an important meeting with the generals to discuss future strategy for dealing with the other nations. Don’t be late,” she said. “Wouldn’t want to squander all that goodwill you’ve built up.”

With that, she sauntered away, leaving Zuko steaming with suppressed anger as he always seemed to be around his sister. As the anger slowly leached out of him, guilt and even a little fear welled up in its place as he walked to his rooms to change clothes. What _was_ he doing? It felt like he had dipped his toes into something that felt so good with Katara. Camaraderie and understanding. A fragile kind of trust. He knew he was becoming the person his uncle wanted him to be when he was with her. But what if it all went wrong and he lost all the ground he’d made up in regaining his father’s approval?

He tallied up all the different things he stood to lose if he chose wrong. He’d regained his honor in the eyes of his nation. His father was giving him a second chance. He had Mai’s adoration. And okay, they were fighting, but every couple fought, right? Even Azula seemed not so bad, if not on his side entirely.

On the other hand, he couldn’t possibly go through with hunting and killing the new Avatar. He’d pushed it out of his mind, but it still lurked over his head as something he’d have to deal with in the future. Then there was his changing relationship with Katara. It seemed like there was something that was almost a friendship solidifying between them. And then there was Uncle, as well. Uncle’s regard and love weighed on Zuko’s heart even now.

He blew out a breath. Why did this have to be so complicated? His very soul felt in conflict with itself. There wasn’t time to delve too far into the sensation, though. He had a meeting to get to, and this one did seem particularly important if Azula relaying the information meant anything. He would need to be on his best princely behavior.

After bathing and being dressed in his formal attire, he strode down the hallways to the throne room. He held his head high and tried to look as confident as possible, although he felt anything but confident inside. Whatever his father and the generals had in mind for the Earth Kingdom and the two Water Tribes, it wouldn’t be something they would enjoy. Maybe his new role could be to advocate for the other nations. Perhaps he could help forge some kind of peaceful acceptance of their fate now that the Earth Kingdom had been conquered by the Fire Nation. Especially since the North and South Pole were not far from being defeated as well if reports were to be believed.

He hadn’t wanted to tell Katara that the end of the war was in sight. And was the end of that war a good thing or a bad thing? He wasn’t sure when it came down to it. On entering the throne room, he pushed the treasonous thoughts out of his mind and took his seat at his father’s side. Now wasn’t the time to consider such things.

“Your report, General Shinu,” his father commanded once they all were settled.

The general stood with a confident air and approached the throne after giving a deep bow. “My lord. We bring reports of the growing rebellion. It seems to be centralized around the Earth Kingdom, although our spies tell us the Northern and Southern Water Tribes are involved as well.”

The Fire Lord tapped his fingers against his knee. “This troubles me. What do you suggest?”

“After the attack on our prince and princess, we believe we must send a clear message to the rebels. They must be scattered and forced into submission if we are to have full control of our territories.” He paused as if for emphasis. “The comet approaches. It is an auspicious time to take full control over the entirety of the other nations.”

“But how to stamp out this rebellion before it spreads?” Ozai mused.

Azula leaned forward. “Father. I say we use that fire to our advantage. Burn the traitors and the Earth Kingdom along with it. Nobody will dispute _that_ message.” 

Their father nodded. “I admire your enthusiasm, Azula. Such a display of our power would brook no opposition.”

Zuko scrambled to think of something to say. He desperately felt the need to stop what was unfolding before him.

“Father,” he broke in as calmly as he could. “The Earth Kingdom is rich in resources. Were we to destroy it, wouldn’t that waste the riches benefitting our own people? Not to mention the Colonies in the Earth Kingdom are still loyal to us. Their good influence must surely be spreading by now.”

Ozai steepled his fingers. “You also make a good point, Prince Zuko.”

Shinu spoke up. “The rebels seem to be rallying around the possibility of the new Avatar rising to power.” The general shot a glance towards Zuko. “Perhaps their hope would be shattered if we were to deal with the new Avatar as has been suggested in the past.”

“Yes. I do want that hope to be shattered,” the Fire Lord mused. “Prince Zuko, we will follow your suggestion of sparing the Earth Kingdom for the wealth it affords us. But Azula, we will follow your suggestion of destroying our enemies." Malice laced the small smile that spread across his face. “The solution is simple. We destroy the Northern and Southern Water Tribes. Raining down fire on the Tribes will annihilate the Avatar while wiping out lands that provide little in resources. We will kill several birds with one stone.”

The generals all clapped, murmuring their approval with one voice.

Zuko sat stunned. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He felt that he needed to say something. Anything. But what? He opened his mouth to protest. “Father, you can’t—”

Azula interrupted him. “I agree with my brother completely. You couldn’t have come up with a better solution, Father. What an honor that you took our humble advice.”

Their father smiled. “Today you have proven you truly are my children.” He turned to look at Zuko. “Prince Zuko. You will lead the attack on the Southern Water Tribe.” He turned to Azula. “And Azula, you will lead the attack on the Northern Water Tribe. I trust you can accomplish this task. The nation will celebrate you both, and my pride will know no bounds.”

Azula smiled broadly. “Thank you, Father. You won’t regret it.” She turned to Zuko. “Come on, brother. We need to plan the coordination of our attacks.”

Ozai chuckled. “So eager. You both are excused.”

Zuko felt himself caught up in Azula’s wake. He could barely pay attention to where his feet were taking him as they left the throne room. She led him to an empty hallway next to a tapestry of Fire Lord Sozin out of sight of servants and courtiers.

Azula crossed her arms. “I’m meeting Mai and Ty Lee here. You have five minutes to explain what happened in there. What is _wrong_ with you, Zuko? Do you have any idea what you were risking in standing up to Father?”

He still felt in shock and couldn’t find any words for a moment. His voice was rough when he finally spoke. “Azula. This is wrong. You have to see that.”

Her voice and expression practically cut him. “What I see is that my brother is losing his nerve. What little of it he ever had.”

“Do you know how many people are in the Southern and Northern Water Tribes? How many men and women? Their children?”

Azula waved a hand. “What does it matter? They’re supporting the rebels. You know as well as I do that they’ll never be loyal to us. Not really. And one of those children you’re so concerned about is the Avatar.” 

Her eyes narrowed even further. “I don’t know how else to say this to you, Zuko. You need to shut up and grow a fucking spine.”

He blinked at her words but didn’t respond. That seemed to anger Azula even more.

“Why are you being so weak-willed about this, brother? You are out of your mind if you think Father is going to let you off the hook this time. And burning your face is the least of what he’ll do to you if you really try to stand against him. He doesn’t suffer traitors lightly. Take a look at what’s going to happen to Uncle if you want to see what would happen to you, too.”

Zuko finally latched onto her words enough to speak. “What do you mean?” he frowned. “What’s happening to Uncle?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Father is going to execute him on the Day of the Comet. It will send a statement to all those who think we would be weak enough to tolerate such treason. Even from a member of the royal family.”

“He can’t—”

“No, Zuko. He _can_. And he will add you to the pyre if you don’t watch your mouth. You can say goodbye to your waterbender friend, too, since we don’t need her anymore now. She’s scheduled for execution that day as well.” Azula smirked. “Get in your practices with her and those strolls in the gardens while you can. Father is going to insist that you get the honor of killing her. Personally, I’m a little jealous.”

Zuko took a breath. “Azula—”

“That’s all I have to say to you, brother,” she said, cutting him short. “Make your peace with what you need to do. You’re not going to be the savior of these people. The sooner you let that idea go, the better. They are the enemy. Remember?”

She paused. “You can’t help them, Zuko. Don’t throw your own life away by trying. I’d hate to see you try to spare them at the expense of yourself.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Zuko saw Mai and Ty Lee round the corner into the hallway. They were just far enough away that they couldn’t hear Azula hiss, “Be someone Father will be proud of, Zuko. Otherwise, you’re going to lose everything. Think about it and be smart. Make the right choice.” 

As he reeled back from her, she raised her voice to the others.“Girls! Ready for lunch? I have such news to share. Pack your warm clothes for the North Pole.”

Zuko couldn’t stand to hear any more. Mai tried to catch his eye as he stalked past both her and Ty Lee, but he didn’t say a word to her. He could still hear the trio as he rounded the corner.

“What’s with him?” Ty Lee asked. “Are you two fighting already, Mai?”

Mai muttered something he couldn’t hear. Azula’s voice carried, however.

“He’s just moping because Father wants us to destroy the Water Tribes. Probably going to go cry about it to his pet waterbender as we speak.” 

Zuko stopped out of sight of the trio. He didn’t want Azula riling up his girlfriend against Katara.

Azula continued. “I’d keep an eye on that one, Mai.”

He could hear the frown in Mai’s voice. “Keep an eye on your brother or keep an eye on Master Katara?” 

Azula laughed. “Both, come to think of it. They’re awfully…close...if you ask me.” 

Zuko clenched his teeth together and his hands balled into fists. Azula’s insinuation that he had some kind of romantic relationship with Katara made him see red. The idea that he’d force his attentions on her while she was his prisoner repulsed him. 

Katara. The person he had almost come to call his friend. He desperately needed to talk to her about what he’d heard. The lives of her people and of so many others were at stake.

Together they would figure out what to do. They had to.


	8. Chapter 8

Katara dreamed. And as she dreamed, a smile spread over her face because she was riding on Appa with Aang, Sokka, and Toph as they drifted slowly over a landscape of nodding blue flowers arrayed below them. Momo chattered and flapped around them before screeching and flying playfully at her face—

—when she woke to what sounded like a family of badger-moles pounding on her door. A moment later, that door flew open and Zuko stalked in. Katara tried to shake off her mental cobwebs and roll out of bed as he practically slammed the door shut behind him.

They were alone. Xuě and Lin weren’t around, having excused themselves to take their own rest while she slept. 

Pushing back the covers, Katara climbed out of bed as Zuko took a seat at her table. 

“Zuko,” she said, standing up straight but still a little groggy. “What is it?” 

He had dropped his hands to rest limply in his lap as he stared out at nothing. His posture and the fact that his face had drained of color worried her. Something terrible was coming, she just knew it. A small rush of adrenaline filled her before he even said anything, bringing her to instant wakefulness.

Zuko turned his head to look at her, and his expression was bleak. “Katara,” he said as his voice broke a little. “I can’t— I don’t—”

“Take your time,” she said, moving closer to try to sit down next to him.

But he was up and pacing the floor a moment later just as he often seemed to do when he was at his most distressed. It looked like he was going to wear a hole in the floor this time.

“Katara,” he tried a second time without looking at her. “I don’t even know what to say to you. Things are so messed up.”

She waited until he came close to her and then stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “Just start at the beginning. It’ll be alright.”

He blew out a breath, but he did actually stop at her urging. “No, it won’t. You don’t understand. You don’t know.”

“What don’t I know?” she asked softly. “What’s going on?”

He met her eyes briefly before looking away again. “It’s my father. We just had a meeting with the generals. They want to fire bomb the Northern and Southern Water Tribes. They want _me_ to do it. To murder your people. And I can’t do it, Katara. I can’t.”

Katara felt the blood drain from her own face. Her hands and feet felt numb as she dropped into the seat at the table that Zuko had just vacated.

“When?” she asked, her voice a whisper.

“The day Sozin's Comet arrives. That’s when Fire Nation strength will be at its strongest. We’re supposed to kill everyone. They’ll start by bombing the shelters, and then the troops will move in. Your people won’t stand a chance. I’m supposed to lead the attack on the South, and Azula will attack the North at the same time. And it’s my fault, Katara. _My fault_.”

She frowned as his words pushed their way through the many thoughts crowding her mind. “How is it your fault?”

He spoke quickly, tripping over his words. “I was so stupid. I said we shouldn’t burn the Earth Kingdom. I thought I was saving them. That if I just talked about how many resources they gave us that the generals and my family would think of something else. But they want to kill the Avatar while crushing the rebellion.” He laughed bitterly. “My father said it would kill two birds with one stone. Can you believe it? I tried to say something—to stop them. Azula talked right over me. She thought she was helping me. I think. But it’s done. There’s no turning back now that my father’s approved it.”

He looked so close to panic—and even close to tears of frustration—that Katara felt herself shift into the calm state her experience and training as a healer sometimes brought to her in tense situations. 

“This is so messed up,” he repeated as he clenched his fists helplessly. “I don’t even know what I’m asking you to do.” 

Katara took a deep breath and looked at him steadily. “I think you do know. I think you want me to tell you to stop this.”

Zuko shook his head at her words. "But how can I possibly stop it? I’m one guy. Just one guy against the entire Fire Nation. I can’t make my father listen to me. Or Azula for that matter. It was her idea to kill everyone in the first place.”

“This isn’t about Azula or your father. It’s about you. What do _you_ want to do? What do _you_ choose?”

“I don’t know! I want to choose to do the right thing. Tell me what the right thing is, Katara,” he said, his voice desperate.

Katara held his gaze with her own. “You have to decide on what that is for yourself, Zuko. I can’t make that decision for you.”

After a long moment, the frantic energy seemed to go out of him as he drew himself up and met her eyes. “I have to stop this, Katara. I need your help to stop this. Please.”

Katara considered him. Zuko. The man who had been her enemy for a long, long time. It was such a risk to tell him of her plans and to trust him as it seemed she might be able to do after all their days together here in the Fire Nation. But did some nice walks and the softening of the walls between them make up for all that he’d done? Could she actually trust him after all?

She took a deep breath and blew it out again. “You really want me to help you,” she said quietly. It wasn’t a question. And she really did believe that he wanted that help.

He nodded. “Yes.” 

“Then I have something to ask you.” She trailed off and Zuko looked at her expectantly. Taking a deep breath, she asked, “What if there was a way to leave the palace and join the rebellion in the Earth Kingdom? Would you go?”

Zuko looked taken aback that she knew about the force massing abroad, but Lin had accidentally let something slip about it a few days earlier. 

“I guess I would,” he said slowly. “If it would somehow stop what’s going to happen.”

“My father and Toph are helping to lead the rebellion. I just know it. If we could join up with them somehow, and if you could tell them the things you know about the Fire Nation, then it could shift the tide in their favor. They need every Master bender they can get, and I need to be with them for whatever they’re putting together in order to take down your father. You could help them stop what’s happening. If that’s what you truly want.”

Zuko blinked. “You want me to give information that would help dethrone my father?”

“Well, yes.”

“Katara,” he said as he trailed off. He tried again, opening and closing his mouth a few times before saying, “I don’t know if I can do that.”

She crossed her arms. “Well, if you can think of some other way to keep my people from being destroyed, then I’m all ears.”

He looked out into the distance again as if considering. “How would that even work?” he asked. “I can’t just let you walk out of here. The guards would incinerate you before you got halfway through the palace. Even if I took you out of here somehow, Azula is watching the both of us. My father is watching, too, probably. We could try to lose them all in Caldera City, but there are just too many firebenders between this room and there. We’d never make it.”

“There’s a way,” Katara said. She took a deep breath. “When we were traveling the Earth Kingdom to get to Ba Sing Se, we stopped in the desert and met a professor from the University there. He told us about a library that had more information than anywhere else in the world guarded by the Knowledge Spirit Wan Shi Tong.”

“That’s great, Katara,” Zuko interrupted, his eyebrow scrunching up in confusion. “But I’m not seeing how that’s going to be of any help.”

“I’m getting to it. Sokka needed a map that actually had the locations of the Fire Nation’s cities and the Capital on it. We made it inside the library, but a firebender had come there before us and burned everything on the Fire Nation to keep knowledge from falling into anyone’s hands.”

“Zhao,” Zuko muttered with a scowl, “My uncle told me he bragged about it while attacking the Northern Water Tribe.”

Katara nodded. “Anyway, Sokka found a burned scroll talking about ‘the darkest day in Fire Nation history’ with only a date on it. We put that date into a massive machine that showed the sun and the moon moving through the sky. The sky changed on that date so that it was dark even though it was supposed to be day. It was a solar eclipse, Zuko! We don’t know what happened the first time the eclipse came, but we do know that firebenders will lose their ability to bend when the sun disappears.”

He nodded. “I know about the solar eclipse. I’m sorry, Katara, but Azula already told us all about it. It can’t possibly help us now even if I could somehow get a message to your allies to coordinate a rescue attempt.”

Katara smiled grimly. “But do your father and your sister know _when_ it’s coming? Because I’ve been counting the days since I’ve been trapped here. It’s arriving in just a few days.”

“You’re saying that you want to break out when the Fire Nation will be helpless? When I can’t bend along with everyone else?”

“Yes. That’s when we’re going to take the chance.” She gestured to her vase in the corner of the room. "I’ve been saving water ever since I got here. There’s enough for me to smash through that door.”

Zuko looked startled at her revelation, then he paused and considered for a long enough moment that Katara began to become nervous again. “It could work,” he said finally, and she let out a breath of relief. “The palace will be in an uproar as soon as the eclipse starts. My father is evacuating us to a bunker and then emptying the entire building at the first sign of the sun disappearing. He’s leaving a few of the generals in charge of the soldiers. They’re supposed to be cannon fodder in case your people actually do attack.” He paused in thought. “I’ll have my swords, and between that and your bending, we may actually be able to make something happen.”

Belief sprang up in Katara’s chest. This could definitely work if he was on her side.

He focused his intense gaze on her, his eyes narrowing. “I’m not leaving my uncle, though. He’s scheduled to be executed on the day the comet arrives. You are too, actually.”

Katara suppressed a shiver that her death had been so neatly arranged for her.

Zuko must have noticed. “It’s not going to happen Katara. I won’t let it happen.”

“I know you won’t.”

He still looked conflicted. 

“What is it?”

He sighed. “I’d be throwing away my honor in my father’s and my people’s eyes to become a traitor to my family.”

Katara shook her head. “You’d be redeeming yourself for your part in Aang’s death and saving countless people from the rule of the Fire Nation. Saving them from death, even. There’s more honor in that than you can imagine.”

He looked thoughtful, and Katara reached out to place her hand over his. “We can do this, Zuko. We can. Together.”

He looked down at her hand on top of his, then he tilted his head and met her blue eyes with his golden ones.

“Alright. I’ll do it.”

Katara resisted the urge to punch her fist into the air in triumph. She restrained herself enough to ask in an excited voice. “Good. Now we just need to break Sokka out of wherever he’s being held, and we can easily get out of the Fire Nation between the three of us and your uncle. Do you know if Sokka’s being held with your uncle in Capital Prison?”

Zuko suddenly seemed to be having a hard time meeting her eyes. “Uh, yeah. About that…”

It felt like Katara’s heart stopped in her chest and the floor fell away from beneath her feet. Her hand tightened on Zuko’s “Is he alright? They wouldn’t have killed him. I’d know if he was dead.” She felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes against her will.

“No!” Zuko exclaimed, twisting out of her hold and grabbing onto her hand gently before looking away again. “No. It’s not that. It’s just that he’s kind of…not…here…?”

Katara stared at him, something in her chest freezing into a solid block of ice. “What do you mean he’s not here?”

“I mean, he was never here. Azula just came up with that to make you give up hope and talk about the Avatar.”

“And you went along with it,” she said, tearing her hand out of his grasp.

“I had to! Katara, believe me, I didn’t want to lie to you.”

She glared ice daggers at him. “Really. You didn’t want to lie. Because that’s not what your people do all the time?” She shook her head. “You must think I’m the biggest idiot in the history of the four nations.” 

“No,” Zuko said, reaching for her again. “You’re not. Please just listen to me.”

Katara laughed, and it was a bitter sound as she threw her hands into the air. “I _am_ an idiot. I’m an idiot for trusting you.”

“That’s not—”

“Well, I won’t make that mistake again,” she said, interrupting his obvious attempts to apologize by getting to her feet. “Please just go, Zuko. I can’t even stand to look at you right now.”

He stood up as well, looking as if he wanted to round the table to go to her and beg for her forgiveness. “Katara—”

“Go!” she snapped.

His eyes flashed, and he gritted his teeth. The anger he’d seemed to learn to suppress whenever he was around her blazed up, making the lamp flames leap. 

“Fine,” he snapped. “I’ll go.” A moment later, he’d yanked the door open and was striding down the hallway without a backwards glance. The usual guard moved to shut the door before Katara could get much more of a look at Zuko. Before she did, though, she looked in at Katara with a quizzical expression.

“Everything alright in here?” the guard asked, sounding concerned.

“No,” Katara spat, clenching her fists and wishing she could send a water whip after Zuko to knock him to the ground like she had when they’d sparred. Maybe it would smack some sense into him.

The guard raised her eyebrows. “Alright,” she said a little awkwardly before shutting the door.

Katara wandered around her room, unable to sit still. She was fuming too hard to remain in one spot for very long. How could he? she raged inwardly. How could he stand there and lie to her about her brother? She had thought they’d become allies—if not more than allies. She thought they’d been slowly becoming friends. He’d broken her trust as easily as a sparrowkeet egg falling to the ground. What else was new? It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to him betraying her trust. So why did it hurt so much?

She snagged her comb from where it sat next to her mirror and flung it at the wall. It bounced off with a small clang, but it didn’t feel nearly as satisfying as breaking or exploding something with a water whip. Her gathered water was too precious, though, and she didn’t want to alert the guards to anything being out of order. She couldn’t waste her opportunity for escape on her anger over Zuko. Azula, on the other hand... If Azula was here, Katara would have gladly throttled the other girl to death, guards or no guards. 

It had been such an easily manufactured lie. They must have laughed so hard at her for thinking her brother was here. For being so easily fooled. And she did feel like a fool.

She looked around for other things to throw, knowing it wouldn’t make her feel any better, but doing it anyway. Her eyes fell on the wilted fire lily Zuko had given her. The ladies hadn’t allowed any water in the room to keep it fresh, and now its petals were curling in slightly. Katara had put it in pride of place in an empty vase on the table. Grabbing it up, she threw it on the ground and crushed it beneath her slippered foot. After stamping on it a few times, she realized how ridiculous and petty she must look. She knew she needed to act her age and not like a five year old having a tantrum.

Katara fell into the seat before the table, feeling the tears of frustration and anger filling her eyes. Why did it hurt so much that Zuko had lied to her? It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t like she’d really believed that what was growing between them was real friendship.

Except she had.

Running through every interaction they’d had, she counted up all the times he’d mentioned Sokka or responded to her questions about her brother. The subject hadn’t come up very often. She had been the one to bring him up, really, and Zuko would always avoid her questions with an awkward look or phrase that told her he couldn’t or wouldn’t say anything. His reticence had only made her worry about Sokka even more.

She huffed. So he hadn’t outright lied to her exactly. But if it wasn’t a blatant lie, then it had been a lie by omission. He knew how much she had worried for Sokka. He knew!

And now she had sent Zuko away. He knew all of her plans, and she didn’t know if she could truly believe in him anymore. She would just have to cling to her faith in her ability to escape and her faith in the rebellion. The thought stole into her mind that she also needed to have faith in the fact that Zuko was changing. That he would do the right thing and help her. 

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be the only one who was lost.


	9. Chapter 9

Zuko strode down the hallway with his thoughts circling like buzzard-wasps. He didn’t even know where he was going. Just away.

It looked like what he’d been building between himself and Katara might have been destroyed from one little lie. It was ridiculous. Sure, he probably could have handled that better, but she could at least _try_ to trust him. If someone had told him his own sister had been captured, he wouldn’t have felt nearly so distraught about it. Then again, Sokka and Katara’s relationship had looked quite different from his relationship with Azula. He idly wondered what would it be like to have a sibling who wasn’t actively trying to sabotage the other one at any given moment.

It probably would have felt a lot like having a friend. But what did he know about friendship? He’d never had it before besides with his uncle who didn’t quite count. It was still inexplicable that Uncle had once cared for him the way that he had. And maybe Katara would have cared for him, too, if he hadn’t screwed this up, because he had to be honest with himself that their current state was definitely his fault.

At that thought, his frustration began to transform into a cold, queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Katara had looked at him like she didn’t know who he was. And he had been so sure she was the one who truly understood who he wanted to be. Just like Uncle had once understood.

Uncle. He needed to tell him about the Day of Black Sun right away. He would have no idea it was coming. Or maybe he would. Uncle tended to know a lot of things.

The eclipse would change everything if they pulled off an escape. It was risky, though. He would also be powerless alongside every other firebender in the palace, even though he trusted his swordsmanship to be able to handle whatever the guards would throw at him. Agni knew that Katara could handle herself. Uncle, too, had proven himself time and time again as the Dragon of the West. The old man may not be able to use his firebending, but Zuko had a feeling he would be just fine without it.

After arranging for the same palanquin and carriage he’d used before to be made ready, he set out for the prison. His thoughts were a muddle throughout the journey. As he moved past the clean and shining walls and streets of the palace and the surrounding district, he wondered if he’d ever see them again. If he helped Katara and his uncle, he may as well have thrown his birthright in the dirt in the eyes of his people. Right now they loved him. Soon enough they would all probably spit on him and curse his name if they could. But when he really thought about it, there was no other option. He would sacrifice his own happiness and any of the Fire Nation’s love for him if it would save all those people as Katara claimed it would.

When the servants set the palanquin down next to the carriage that would take him to Capital Prison, he climbed inside it and leaned his head back to rest against the seat. A discomforting thought reared up in his mind as he looked up at the decorative finish and deft metalwork of the roof above him.

What if Uncle was too angry to listen to him or what if he didn’t trust him anymore? If Zuko was honest about it, he himself would never trust someone who had betrayed and humiliated him in the way he had done to his uncle. Why should Uncle possibly give him another chance after what he’d done? But maybe he would listen long enough to see that they needed to band together as allies. If he never wanted to see his nephew again after they left the Fire Nation, it would be perfectly understandable to Zuko’s mind. 

The prison loomed up in front of them, and a guard opened the door, bowing his head in a gesture of respect. Zuko felt like he would never deserve such a gesture again if he couldn’t fix what was so obviously and terribly wrong with his nation.

Several prison guards waited inside. They bowed and one said, “We heard how you dispatched those assassins, your highness, and we wanted to honor you for it.”

Zuko nodded, but the words did little to soothe his scattered thoughts. He had almost forgotten about the assassination attempt. It felt like ages ago instead of a few days. Maybe he would never know who had sent them. Maybe it had been one of his family members or maybe he would be walking into a death trap as soon as he put himself into the hands of the rebels. But surely Katara wouldn’t let that happen. He didn’t think she would, anyway.

A guard stood at attention outside his uncle’s cell. “I wish to speak to him alone,” Zuko said brusquely as he drew near. “I’d appreciate it if you found somewhere else to be.”

“At once, your highness,” the guard said, and he was quick to leave the hallway deserted. 

Entering his uncle’s cell was just as difficult as it had been every time he’d done it before. Iroh sat on the mat as if he had never moved from when Zuko had last seen him. The old man stared down at his clasped hands as if meditating, but the look of quiet despair on his face cut straight to Zuko’s heart.

“Uncle,” he said after settling himself on the ground in front of the cell. “I came as soon as I could. There’s so much I have to tell you. First of all, I need you to know that I’m getting you and Master Katara out of here. And I’m coming with you.”

Not even a ripple of emotion passed over Iroh’s face, and Zuko held his breath. They sat in silence until Zuko couldn’t stand it any more.

“You don’t have to talk to me. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t ever want to speak to me again. But I want you to know I’ve changed.” Zuko looked down at his own clasped hands. “I see now what a fool I was to throw away what we’d built just to get the approval of my father and Azula. I don’t know what I was thinking.” He glanced up to see if there had been any change in Iroh’s expression. “Things are really bad, Uncle. My father wants me to destroy the Southern Water Tribe. Azula is supposed to do the same to the Northern Water Tribe. You’re to be executed that same day along with Master Katara.”

He gripped the bars in front of him suddenly as he tried to wring some kind of response from the other man. “She and I have a plan. There’s an eclipse in a few days. All the firebenders will lose their bending power as long as it lasts. That’s when we’re going to leave. I want you to come with us.” He paused, looking down and away. “I _need_ you to come with us. Not just because they want to kill you, but because I can’t do this alone. I have Master Katara, but I can’t stand the thought of losing you. Please, Uncle. Please say you’ll come with us.”

He had said what was weighing so heavily on his heart, and he was about to give up all hope and leave when he felt his uncle’s solid, warm hands wrap around his own where they rested on the bars.

“I will come with you, Nephew. But I wish to hear why you have decided to do this thing.”

Zuko’s eyes shot to Iroh’s. “Didn’t you hear me, Uncle? My father wants to kill hundreds of people, and he wants me to do it. And I can’t. That’s not who I am anymore. I want peace for our nation and to stop this war before anyone else has to die.”

His uncle raised a brow. “And what about the new Avatar? I am guessing my brother factored them into this equation.”

Zuko nodded. “He did. But I don’t want to hunt and kill a child. I won’t. If the Avatar can bring peace to the world, then I want to help them do it.”

His Uncle’s eyes were warm and Zuko could hardly bear to look into them as he replied, “I was worried for you, Nephew. Deeply worried. But you have found your way once more. That knowledge makes me happier than you will ever know.”

Zuko closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the bars. “I know I betrayed you. I don’t expect you to ever forgive me for it. It wouldn’t even make sense for you to—” Before he could even finish the words, he felt a short, sharp tap against the middle of his forehead. His eyes flew open. “Did you just poke me in the face?” he asked, incredulous.

Iroh nodded. “I did. Prince Zuko, you must open yourself up to the idea that not everything can be thought through logically.” He pulled his hand back and rested it over his heart. “Sometimes, more than the head, it is the spirit that hears and the heart that knows what to do and what to feel.” 

The old man smiled gently at Zuko’s confusion. “I forgave you long ago, Nephew, and I know that you have struggled, wrestling with your soul. It is the way it will always be for you.” He waited to let his words sink in for a moment longer before saying jovially, “Now tell me about this plan to rescue me. I am all ears, as they say.”

“Well, we don’t really have much of a plan yet,” Zuko admitted. “Master Katara and I had just started to talk about what we were going to do when I messed things up again.” He ducked his head. “I’ve made so many mistakes, Uncle. I lied to her about holding her brother captive here. She’s so angry with me now that she knows Sokka isn’t actually in the Fire Nation. I think we’re still allies, but I’m not sure.”

Iroh sat in thought for a moment. “You must apologize to Master Katara.”

“I know,” Zuko said ruefully. “I just hope she listens to me.”

“She will if you speak from your heart as you did with me.”

“I’ll try.”

“Good. Now, let us talk of what must happen. I knew about the eclipse, and I had planned to break out of here alone to rejoin my own allies.”

Zuko looked up, startled. “How did you know about it?”

“I knew because it is part of the learnings of the Order which I belong to. We will speak of their role later,” he said as soon as Zuko opened his mouth to ask him if it was the same people as the Pai Sho players who had helped them in the Earth Kingdom. “I will use my own strength to free myself from the prison while the guards have lost their ability to firebend. Master Katara will need a method of escape, and perhaps that will be your own role. Finding a way out of the palace and into the city below will be difficult with three of us.” Iroh stroked his chin in thought. “My contact may well be able to smuggle all of us out, but it would have been easier with just one. Perhaps we need to think larger now,” he said. “I will continue to consider our options and will discuss them with you once you have spoken to Master Katara.”

“Uncle,” Zuko said hesitantly. “What do you know about the previous eclipse? Something happened that day, but Master Katara said all knowledge of it at the Spirit Library was destroyed by Zhao.”

“Hm. The Order passed down what little is known of what happened. A Fire Lord died that day, a dynasty was broken, and the nation was almost destroyed. A series of lesser Fire Lords ruled the nation for a century afterwards, and the nation remained weak and torn apart by civil war despite the assistance of the Avatar. The Fire Sages had lost much of their power by the time our own family took control and began to encourage their influence.” He looked closely at Zuko. “Why do you ask?”

“Master Katara called it ‘the darkest day in Fire Nation history.’ I thought if we knew more about what happened that we could bring information to the rebels on how to possibly defeat my father.”

Iroh nodded. “Perhaps there is more information held with the Fire Sages. All other record of that day and that time before our family’s rule has been expelled from the nation’s history.”

Zuko’s could feel his eyes practically glowing with confidence. “I’ll break into the Fire Sages’ Temple. I can do it. Then maybe the rebels will trust us if we bring them something they can use in the war.”

“Master Katara will vouch for you, my nephew. And I will as well. But yes, your own actions will carry even greater weight. Be careful, though. It would be disastrous for you to be found.”

“I know, Uncle. I’ll wait until the right time. Don’t worry.”

“I have faith in you. Now go. Speak with Master Katara. I see it weighs heavily on you.”

Zuko nodded. “I’ll be back.” He rose to his feet and headed for the door, looking back once to see the smile on his uncle’s face. It lightened his heart more than he ever would have thought possible.

He thought over his next moves as he rode back to the palace. It was late in the evening, but he couldn’t wait until the morning to talk to Katara. He needed to set this right.

The guards looked surprised as he drew near to her room. “Your highness,” they murmured.

“I need to speak with Master Katara,” he said, and one of the guards knocked as she always did before opening the door and announcing, “His highness is here to see you.”

He took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold. The door shut behind him, and he resisted the urge to lean backwards against its sturdy surface. Clearing his throat, he stood tall and looked for Katara. He couldn’t help but notice the fire lily he’d given her had been thrown onto the ground and its petals scattered and bruised. His hope plummeted. But he had to at least try. He reminded himself of his uncle’s words and was determined to speak from his heart as the old man had suggested.

She sat before her mirror combing her long hair and seemed to be getting ready for bed. Setting her comb down carefully, she met his eyes in the reflection.

“What do you want?” she asked.

He flinched inwardly at her curt tone. She was still angry. Obviously.

“I wanted to talk to you. Katara. I am…so very sorry.”

She rose to her feet and turned, adjusting the tie of her silk robe. “What are you sorry for? That you lied to me or that you had to finally confess?”

Zuko bowed his head. “I’m sorry for lying to you. Your respect means a lot to me. I know I messed up. Can you forgive me? I want to help you, and I can’t do that if you don’t trust me.”

She looked at him for a long time, and he squirmed inwardly as she did so. “I don’t know, Zuko. It’s hard for me to trust you when you keep doing things like this.”

“I know,” he exclaimed. “But I’m going to try to be better at this, Katara. I promise. I know I need to show you instead of just telling you, but I wanted you to know that the time we’ve spent together wasn’t just me lying to you. It—it meant a lot to me. It still does.”

“Really?” Katara paused. “Well. It meant a lot to me, too.”

Zuko looked upwards to meet her eyes, hoping against hope that she would believe him.

She gave a long sigh. "I guess I can forgive you. This time. But on one condition.”

“What’s that?” he asked, trying to keep the mild desperation he felt out of his voice.

“No more lying. Ever. That’s not how friends act towards each other.”

He registered her words and felt a slow smile dawning over his face. “So we’re…friends, then?”

She gave him a small smile that lit up the corners of his heart. “Yeah. Yeah, I think we are.”

Friends. He hadn’t thought that word would mean as much to him as it did. But it really, really did. He held onto the glow inside him that felt like the morning sunlight warming him as it spilled over the horizon.

He cleared his throat, feeling as if it was a little thick with emotion. “Okay. Then let’s figure out how to get out of this palace. I talked to Uncle, and he’s on board and trying to think of a way for the three of us to escape.” He looked around the room.

“How were you going to get out of here? Do you need me to help? I could take out the guards pretty easily.”

“Don’t worry about it. I have my own way out.” She hesitated then gestured him forward to look at the vase on a small table in the corner. “Look.”

“Uh. Very pretty?” he said doubtfully.

“Look _in_ it, Zuko.”

“Oh.” He leaned over the vase and looked inside it. His head twisted to stare at her where she stood observing him with a satisfied expression. “How did you manage to get this much water?”

“I’ve been bending it out of everything you can think of. Steam, tea, my bath. Everywhere. There’s so much water when you think about it. Even inside bodies.” She paused. “Although I’m not sure how much I want to be experimenting with that. It seems risky.”

“That’s amazing, Katara,” he exclaimed. “I hadn’t thought about how much you could bend if you really needed to. I can’t believe I once thought waterbending was inferior to firebending.” 

“Thanks,” she said rolling her eyes, but her smile was fond. “Glad you finally realized that. I’m going to use this water to smash through the door. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen ice snap a branch or explode a small tree, but I’m going to use it on the lock. The guards will be helpless without their bending.” She paused. “I just hope Xuě and Lin won’t be around. I don’t want to hurt them if I can help it. The guards either, really.”

“I’m sure we can time things so as few people as possible will be around,” Zuko assured her.

Katara nodded. “So what will you do?”

He thought about it for a moment before saying, “I’m going to break into Azula’s room.”

“What? Why?” Katara demanded.

“That’s where your Spirit Water is being kept. She takes trophies, and I know she has it.”

Katara’s eyes lit up. “You can really get it back?”

“Yes. It seemed like it was really valuable to you. It might come in handy if we’re on the run and trying to stop my father.”

“Thank you, Zuko. It means a lot to me that you’d try.”

Zuko rubbed his hand against the back of his neck shyly. “No problem. I’m going to break into the Fire Sages’ Temple tonight, so it will be good practice. I want to know if whatever happened on the day of the last eclipse can help the rebels. Do you happen to know when exactly it took place?”

Katara shook her head. “Not exactly, no, but there was a little information written on the scroll. It was the seventh month of the Year of the Dragon several centuries ago.”

“Thanks,” Zuko said. “They’re going to keep any information like that in a safe place. It’s probably with the royal records, I’m thinking. My uncle took me there once when I was a kid. He seemed to hope I’d be a scholar. Not really my thing, though.”

Katara smiled, and he felt himself light up in return. Everything was going to be alright. He had a feeling, and it was a good one.

“I’m going to have to meet with Azula in the next few days to make her think I’m on board with the plan to destroy the Water Tribes,” he said with a frown. “I don’t want her watching too closely when the eclipse is here.” He paused. “Speaking of meetings, I might be a little late to visit you tomorrow because of a policy meeting, so don’t worry if I’m not here at the usual time.”

“I’ll be alright. Lin and Xuě are going to teach me Pai Sho.”

Zuko snorted. “That will make Uncle happy, at least.”

“We can have matches once we get out of here.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

It was obvious that neither one of them wanted to contemplate failure in their goals as they stood looking at each other. There was no room for error, but Zuko left Katara’s room with a smile on his face and a lightness in his step that hadn’t been there for a very, very long time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, lovely readers! I just upped the chapter count because I've sketched out the rest of the fic in more detail, and there was no way it would fit into 24 chapters. Thank you as always for the comments and kudos!

Katara woke looking forward to her day for a change. She had her whole morning and afternoon planned, and it included more attempts to build her water supply along with learning Pai Sho from the ladies. The day would finish with a long private meeting between herself and Zuko to discuss strategy once he’d talked to his uncle. He was going to have to be the go-between for herself and General Iroh, but together they would surely come up with an airtight escape plan for the coming eclipse.

Two days. Just two days until she would be free and hurrying to find the rebellion, wherever they may be hiding. She would scour the globe if she needed to if it meant she would be back together with her brother and Toph, not to mention all the others she hoped would be a part of the force defying the Fire Lord.

Zuko would be infiltrating the Fire Sage Temple sometime after midnight, and she couldn’t wait to hear whatever it was he found. Hopefully, it would be something that would be useful in the ultimate goal of dethroning his father. It still amazed her that he was willing to risk his hard-won honor for their cause. His apology the night before about lying to her had thawed nearly all of the ice surrounding her heart when it came to the prince. She couldn’t help holding onto a small sliver of it, though, despite herself. Their trust was still a blossoming thing, barely surviving the frost of their misunderstandings.

The arrival of Lin and Xuě interrupted her conflicted thoughts on that front. She was excited to see they had indeed brought a Pai Sho set with them, and the duo set up the board as they explained the different pieces to her and their values.

At first the game seemed utterly incomprehensible. Katara tried to take it with good grace when they laughed at her slowness at mastering it.

“Not everyone is suited to Pai Sho,” Lin giggled as she took the winning piece.

“Hey!” Katara exclaimed. “I’m going to figure it out. Just you wait.”

“We may be waiting a very, very long time, Lin,” Xuě commented dryly with a laugh of her own.

“Fine,” Katara groused. "I give up for now.”

“Good,” Xuě nodded. “It’s time for tea, anyway.”

Katara helped Lin put the Pai Sho set to the side, clearing a spot for the tea things. Meanwhile, Xuě met a servant at the door who brought hot water along with the tea leaves and cups on a tray.

“Should we set a place for his highness, the prince?” she asked after setting the tray on the table.

“We asked for a fourth cup just in case,” Lin pointed out.

They both watched Katara out of the corner of their eyes. She felt unaccountably uncomfortable for a moment.

“I don’t know. I think he has a meeting right now. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Xuě said airily as she gently sprinkled the leaves into the pot and began to prepare their tea. “His highness has simply been spending a great deal of time here with you, that’s all.”

“On a very regular basis,” Lin put in.

“Well, sure. We’re…friends,” Katara said, suddenly embarrassed. She was unable to control her cheeks from pinking.

“Friends,” Xuě commented. “You don’t think that’s a little unusual?”

“She _is_ a princess,” Lin pointed out. “Perhaps it’s not that unusual for them to have so much to talk about.”

“I’m not a princess,” Katara said automatically.

Lin simply gave a “Hmm” without making a comment.

“I’m not! We don’t have that kind of designation in the Southern Water Tribe.”

Xuě looked back down at the teapot as she asked, “And the Northern Water Tribe?”

“Alright, yes,” Katara said, flustered. “The Northern Water Tribe members called their Chieftain’s daughter ‘Princess’.”

Lin and Xuě exchanged glances that could only be described as smug.

“What?” Katara asked.

“Nothing,” Xuě replied as she poured tea into their cups, a small smile on her face. “We have absolutely nothing to say about the prince of the Fire Nation spending practically all of his time with the princess of the Southern Water Tribe. There is nothing at all to read into that.”

“He doesn’t spend all his time with me!”

Lin and Xuě looked at her with patently disbelieving faces.

“Oh, just drink your tea,” Katara muttered, irritated with their teasing but also glad they felt comfortable enough with her to do so.

The ladies smiled as they took their first sips. Their smiles grew even wider when a knock sounded at the door.

“I guess he was able to get away,” Katara said, blushing a little more deeply this time. It was embarrassing that they thought there was some kind of romantic interest between her and Zuko when it was the farthest thing from her mind.

The ladies exchanged another smug glance that she didn’t particularly enjoy.

The door opened and Xuě and Lin shot to their feet, their teacups sloshing onto the table as Azula stalked into the room. Both Mai and the acrobatic girl Zuko had identified as Ty Lee followed their princess inside. 

Katara’s eyebrows drew together as she stared the trio down. She rose to her feet slowly in stark contrast to the ladies who were already posed in deep bows. There was no need to show respect to the three who had antagonized her friends alongside herself.

Azula took in the Pai Sho set alongside the tea tray. 

“Well, isn’t this cozy,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything.”

“Welcome, Princess Azula,” Xuě began. “We are pleased to introduce—”

“Oh shut it,” Azula snapped. “I know who she is, and she certainly knows who we are.” Her gaze raked over Xuě and Lin. “You’re both dismissed. And I’ll be speaking with you both later today. I am _not_ pleased.”

The two women both paled as they straightened. 

“Of course, Princess. We will await your instructions,” Lin said humbly, although her voice shook a little. They left as quickly as their feet could carry them, shutting the door behind them.

Katara hated seeing the two women ordered around and made to feel the kind of fear Azula obviously inspired in them. She returned Azula’s glare, refusing to be intimidated as she was meant to be. For her part, Mai had a bored look on her face and Ty Lee looked bright-eyed and radiated energy.

Azula stood with her hands behind her back before she began to pace the room, observing everything within range. Katara refused to look at the vase, not wanting to draw attention to it and risk revealing her arsenal of water.

“I hope you’re quite comfortable,” Azula drawled as she paced around the room and observed one of the tapestries. “Only the finest furnishings, I see. Of course, if I’d had my way, you would be rotting in the tallest, driest tower we have. Or better yet, roasted alive on a spit.” She sighed. “But my brother does love a lost cause. So here you are.”

“What do you want?” Katara demanded.

“I wanted to say hello, of course. It’s been too long since we last saw each other. You remember,” she said idly. “It was over the Avatar’s smoking corpse. Now that was a sight I wish I’d been able to paint for posterity. It's certainly a memory I'll treasure.”

Katara clenched her fists at her sides. The urge to lash out at Zuko’s sister was almost more than she could bear, but she held herself very still.

“Speaking of the Avatar,” Azula continued. “I don’t suppose you’ve told dear Zuzu anything about the new one, by any chance? No? What a shame.” Her smile dug into Katara’s skin and twisted like a knife. “Maybe if you’d said something, we wouldn’t be killing every member of the Water Tribes. It could have just been you in the end. Too late now.”

“You never would have spared them,” Katara bit out. “And my people will find a way to put an end to you and your father.”

“They can try.” Azula paused. “And I can’t help but notice my brother wasn’t included in your little diatribe against my family. Interesting.”

Katara felt an electric shock go through her at her mistake. She would have to be more careful when talking about Zuko.

Azula resumed her pacing. “Regardless, you won’t be around to see our victory. I’m going to personally make sure you're thrown on the pyre alongside my traitor uncle.”

She stopped to stand directly in front of Katara. “Until then, please do continue to enjoy my family’s hospitality. Tea, walking in the gardens, flowers…” Seeing Katara’s chagrin, Azula’s tone turned gleeful. “Oh, I’m quite aware of what goes on within this entire palace. I know all about your little excursions.” She stepped even closer to gently shove two fingers against Katara’s chest.

Katara knew very well that they were the same fingers that had directed lightning into Aang’s chest. She clenched her teeth. “You don’t scare me.”

“Yes,” Azula said, her eyebrows drawing together. “And that’s what worries me. You think you’re untouchable.” She turned away and walked to stand next to her companions before giving Katara a glance up and down. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing with my brother or what kind of hold over him you think you have, but whatever it is, I don’t like it.” 

Katara own brows drew together in frustration at the insinuation. Azula simply smirked at having so obviously gotten under her skin. “I have a meeting soon with dear Zuzu, and I’ll have time to ask him all about your relationship. In the meantime, I’m going to leave Mai here with you to…talk it over. Girl to Girl.” She turned and waved. “Come along, Ty Lee. We wouldn’t want to interrupt.”

“Whatever you say, Azula,” Ty Lee said cheerfully.

“Have a good time, Mai,” Azula called back over her shoulder.

And then Katara was alone with Mai. Knife Girl. Zuko’s girlfriend who looked like she was considering sharpening those knives on Katara’s bones.

Mai’s bored look transformed into one of disdain, but her eyes were wary. She stopped a short distance away and pulled the sleeve of her robe back to expose the row of knives holstered there.

“You know who I am?” she asked Katara.

Katara nodded.

Mai took in her reaction, and without preamble she demanded, “What are you doing with Zuko? I know you spend all your time together.” She paused and said in a rush, “Do you want him for yourself? Is that it?”

“No! It’s not like that.” Katara could feel herself blushing, and she knew that didn’t help her case. But it was a ridiculous question. It was Zuko, for Spirits’ sake.

“Then what is it like?” Mai snapped. “He hasn’t been the same since he came back from Ba Sing Se. And I think it has something to do with you.”

“He’s my friend. That’s all,” Katara insisted.

Mai rolled her eyes. “He’s the Fire Nation prince. I have a hard time believing he’s being a friend to you.”

Katara frowned. “Well, he is. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but he’s a good person inside. It's taken him a while to get there, but he is.”

“By ‘good’ you mean he’s getting set up to become a traitor by you and his uncle.” She gave a bitter laugh at Katara’s widened eyes. “Yes, I know all about how guilty he feels about that ‘lost cause’ as Azula calls it. And she’s not wrong. Zuko’s heart is in the right place, but it’s not doing him any favors.” She looked Katara up and down. “I’m worried he’s following his heart when it comes to you as well. Are you trying to drag him down with you? Is that it? Convince him to turn traitor and then watch as he burns on the pyre next to yours?”

Katara blanched. “That’s the last thing I want.”

“So you do care what happens to him, then.”

“Of course I do. Like I said, he’s my friend.”

“Are you sure he’s not more than that?”

“Yes, I’m sure! I’m not some idiot who’s going to fall in love with her captor. That’s not who I am. And it’s not who Zuko is, either.”

“No,” Mai said grimly. “It’s not. And as the one who _does_ love him, I’m going to tell you right now that I know what he needs to do. I just don’t think he’s willing to go through with it.” She looked Katara up and down. “You’ve become a weak spot for him.”

“That’s ridiculous. _This_ is ridiculous. We shouldn’t be wasting our time fighting over your boyfriend.”

“You’re right. We shouldn’t. But I’m not about to let him throw away everything he’s worked for just so he can feel better about what he did to you and your friends for all those years.” 

Mai drew her dagger, raising it into the air, and stepped closer. “This is for his own good,” she said grimly.

Katara felt a deep sense of foreboding as the other girl positioned her arm at an angle that would cut directly into Katara’s throat if she threw or slashed her blade. Mai pulled her arm back in order to strike and Katara stepped backwards, preparing herself for a defensive position—

—when a knock on the door interrupted the moment. 

Mai faltered, although she didn’t drop her knife from where she’d leveled it against Katara. 

Zuko barged inside in the way that had become so usual for him to do. 

“Katara. I—” He took in the scene before him and came to an abrupt halt. “What’s going on in here? Mai? What are you doing here?”

“I’m doing what needs to be done, Zuko,” she said, narrowing her eyes without turning away from Katara.

Katara’s eyes darted between Zuko and Mai. She didn’t know what to do to defuse the situation. She could attack Mai, but what position would that put Zuko in to either help her or to defend his girlfriend?

“Stop,” he barked, and he said it with the entire force of his royal privilege. Katara could hear the years and years of ingrained expectation that he would be respected and obeyed in it. It was the voice of the future Fire Lord commanding them.

And Mai did exactly what she’d been trained to do: she listened to him.

Katara relaxed slightly as Mai dropped her arm. She still held the blade, but it was no longer pointed in Katara’s direction.

“Why?” the girl demanded without looking at him. “Why should I spare her? Tell me. I want to hear it from you.”

“Because I need her.”

Katara watched the color drain from Mai’s face and her eyes became suspiciously bright. She herself was surprised at his words and wondered what lay behind them.

“You need her,” Mai repeated hoarsely.

“Yes,” he snapped. “I need her to be a hostage when the eclipse arrives.”

Mai's head snapped towards him, and Katara felt a pain spear through her chest as if his girlfriend had stabbed her there after all. The other girl’s voice faltered. “That was your plan? She’s to be a hostage?”

“That’s what I just said, didn’t I?” Zuko said, his voice filled with exasperation. “I’d convinced her I was going to help her escape but even that didn’t work to get her to talk. Leave her alone. She’s useless for anything but leverage, and she’s no good for that if you kill her. Once the eclipse is over, she’s not going to be a problem anymore, anyway.”

“But I thought—”

“You thought a few walks to make her think we’re friends and give up information on the Water Tribe was going to mean anything to me? Mai. Come on. I’m not an idiot. I know what needs to happen, and I know my duty. I just finished working on my own strategy for the attack on her people. We’re set to put it in motion on the day of the comet.” He reached for her, offering his arm as his voice softened. “Now come on. I need some lunch, and we haven’t spent nearly enough time together today.”

Mai turned to take his arm with a small smile, and the two swept out the open door. Zuko didn’t even send a backwards glance over his shoulder to acknowledge that Katara was there. He hadn’t looked at her once throughout the whole exchange. 

She tried to catch her breath as she watched them disappear down the hall. Her usual guard had a look almost like pity on her face when she shut the door behind them, clearly having overheard the exchange. 

Katara stood frozen. Was this what it felt like to have your heart broken? What was the equivalent when it felt like being betrayed by the person you had begun to feel the closest to? 

She told herself that he was playing a part—otherwise he would have taken her water or said something more about their escape plan. That was all. Just playing a part. But she couldn’t stop the shard of ice lodged in her heart from expanding once more against her will. Even if he was indeed putting on an act, there was no denying that things had just become even more complicated. All she could do was to put her trust in him and in their friendship, and that was what she intended to do no matter what.


	11. Chapter 11

Zuko’s heart still hammered, but he maintained a pleasant expression on his face as if walking with Mai was the only thing he wanted to be doing.

_You thought a few walks to make her think we’re friends and give up information on the Water Tribe was going to mean anything to me?_

_I just finished working on my own strategy for the attack on her people. We’re set to put it in motion on the day of the comet._

He remembered reaching for Mai, offering his arm and softening his voice in a calculated display to get her to trust him. 

_Now come on, let’s go…we haven’t spent nearly enough time together today._

Agni, Katara must be hurting right now, he thought. It killed him to talk that way after the two of them had just been over how he wanted her to trust him. What if she didn’t understand that he’d said those lies to make sure she was safe?

On leaving the palace, he and Mai climbed into the palanquin to go the short distance to her estate where family servants led them to her parlor. A pot of tea waited for them, and everything was laid out as it always was. The routine didn’t reassure him this time, though.

“Can we get anything for you, your highness? My lady?” one of them asked as Mai and Zuko sat on the sofa together.

“I’ll have a fruit tart,” Mai said.

“Of course,” the servant replied.

“Just fire flakes for me, thanks,” Zuko said, still distracted by his churning thoughts.

When he looked up, he caught the servants making subtle eye contact with each other. It was definitely due to his casual tone and request, not to mention the way he’d thanked them. Perhaps he’d gotten too used to being more like his non-royal self when he was around Katara’s guards and both Xuě and Lin. He couldn’t bring himself to care despite the nagging sense that perhaps he shouldn’t be doing things out of the ordinary if he didn’t want to attract attention.

“At once,” the servant said with a low bow before taking his leave along with his fellows.

Mai looked behind her at the guard who remained in the room. “You need to go, too,” she told him. He looked to Zuko who nodded his agreement.

“Your highness. My lady,” the guard said respectfully before pulling the door open and stepping outside. It snicked closed quietly behind him.

That left Zuko alone with Mai—someone he didn’t particularly want to see right now when his feelings were roiling inside him.

“What were you thinking of, trying to injure Master Katara?” he asked in a casual tone, trying to make it sound more like a request for information rather than an angry demand.

Mai shrugged. “I wasn’t going to injure her. I was going to kill her.” She looked away from him. “Azula suggested it.”

Zuko’s blood ran cold. “Azula wanted you to kill her,” he repeated slowly. “Why?”

Mai looked down at her hands, pulling out a knife to play with it as if needing the comfort of feeling it in her hand. “What does it matter?” she asked, her voice bored.

Zuko frowned. “It matters to me. Why does she want her dead? And why were you willing to do it? I didn’t think you were a killer, Mai,” he said softly.

Mai snorted. “Azula wanted the waterbender dead because she’s a distraction, and she’s obviously affecting you somehow. You can’t deny it, Zuko. Something is going on with you.” She paused, looking at him. “And I was willing to do it because I love you, you idiot.”

Zuko pulled back, startled. “You love me?” he asked, shocked but unable to keep pleasure from rushing through him at the thought.

“Obviously. I’ve loved you since I was a kid. Which you would have noticed if you had paid even the least bit of attention.”

“I don’t know what to say,” he said, his thoughts pulling away from Katara by this revelation.

“You could say you love me back,” she said, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“I do. Of course I do,” he said as he took her hand in his. “But Mai… You know me. You have to know how my father’s orders are weighing on me. I can’t go through with the things he’s asking me to do. It’s not fair to ask you to follow me down the road I need to take.”

Mai jerked her hand back from his. “This is what I’m talking about. It sounds like Master Katara talking. You’re not weak, Zuko. You’re strong. It’s part of what I love about you. Prove that you are who I know you are. Prove that you’re someone who understands what he needs to do and does it.” 

He didn’t know what he could possibly say to that.

Mai looked away. “I’m worried for you. If you keep talking the way you’ve been talking, you’re going to be branded a traitor. And we both know what happens to traitors.”

Zuko blew out a breath. “I get that you’re just trying to protect me. But I can’t keep living in fear of my Father and Azula to the point where I forget who I’m trying to become. Master Katara and my uncle helped remind me of that.”

Frustration began to leak through Mai’s voice. “Zuko. You can’t say things like that. It’s not safe. Don’t throw away everything you’ve gained for yourself on two traitors. Don’t throw your life away.”

“It’s not ‘throwing my life away’. If anything, I’m giving my life meaning. Purpose.”

Mai’s expression darkened. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. What happened to the honor you were always so worried about?”

Zuko scowled. “It’s my honor I’m worried about that keeps me from following in my father’s and my sister’s footsteps. And it’s more than that. The honor of my nation is at stake. The lives of my uncle—and yes, my _friend_ —are at stake.” His voice turned pleading. “Mai. Help me. We can change things. We can make this nation what it should be. Together.”

Mai stood, drawing back from him. “I refuse to help you with this, Zuko. I won’t do it. And don’t ask me to look the other way while you go about destroying yourself, either.”

Zuko stood as well. “Mai—”

“No. Just…no.” She looked away once more. “I don’t know what else we have to say to each other about this.”

“Say that you’ll think things over,” Zuko said a little desperately. “That you’ll think all of it over. We can talk more tomorrow.”

He turned to leave, and he heard her voice from behind him. “I’ll think about it, Zuko. But I’m not making any promises.” 

As he opened the door and left her behind, he tried to focus on the fact that at least she would think about what he’d said. The other words that revolved steadily around and around in his head were the ones where she’d said she loved him.

She loved him! It was almost more than he could believe. He had always thought his future as Fire Lord was laid out for him. That was if he even managed to live long enough to make it to the throne. It would be a life of cold duty with a strategic marriage to someone he might respect but would never love. It would be similar to his parents’ marriage in that sense with a reign that would likely be cut short by assassins or some other kind of deception that left him dead. He had always known that he could never really trust anyone or anything with Azula lurking behind him. 

That life wasn’t anything he had ever looked forward to. Far from it. But it was his destiny according to the Fire Sages and his family. Now he wasn’t even sure he trusted in that destiny since those parties were all candidates for having sent the men who had tried to kill him.

His uncle and Katara wanted something very different for him, though. The tantalizing hope that maybe there _could_ be a different path dangled in front of him like a string in front of a cat-monkey. He couldn’t help but reach for it even if it ended in him looking like a fool or falling into a trap of his own making.

He pushed the thoughts from his mind. There was no room for failure. If he failed, then it wouldn’t just be his own life on the line. It would be the lives of his Uncle—the person who cared for him most and who believed in him in a way nobody else ever had—alongside the life of the person who may become his greatest friend as well as his greatest ally.

By the time he arrived at the prison, he felt dazed with the events of the day that kept racing by one after the other: meeting after meeting where generals and advisors casually mentioned the genocide of two peoples; Katara almost dying; Mai telling him she loved him before threatening to yank it away. Not to mention he had to coordinate the escape plan with Uncle and then somehow infiltrate the Fire Sages’ palace later that night.

It was too much. But the Day of Black Sun drew ever closer, and he knew he had to do something to meet it.

The guards in front of his uncle’s cell made themselves scarce once more while Iroh himself waited patiently inside. 

“Nephew,” he said in greeting as Zuko entered and sat cross-legged before the cell bars. 

“Have you thought of something we can do, Uncle?” he asked with no preamble.

“I have thought of many things,” his uncle replied. “Much like a game of Pai Sho, there are many possibilities with several gambits leading to the best outcome. But first I would hear how Master Katara would lay out her pieces.”

“She plans to break down her cell door by freezing and shattering it before taking out her guards.”

“Yes. Her abilities would be advantageous to any kind of strategy. And you, Prince Zuko? What is your intention?”

Zuko paused. “I plan to break into Azula’s rooms to steal the Spirit Water she took from Master Katara. It could be valuable later when we face both my father and my sister.”

“They may be difficult to remove from the field,” Iroh mused.

“At least they’ll be hiding in the bunker on the Day of Black Sun in case of an attack. Your…uh…execution is scheduled for a few hours after they return to the palace.”

Iroh nodded. “Then we had best be long gone by then.”

“Will we be trying to fight our way to the city?” Zuko asked doubtfully. “That seems risky.”

“It is very risky,” his uncle agreed. “That is why I would rather have you contact a close friend to aid us. If he is successful, then we wouldn’t need to go anywhere at all after meeting together on the palace grounds.”

Zuko was intrigued, his voice eager. “Who is it? One of your friends like in the desert?”

“Yes. It will be a familiar face to you. What you must do is take a Pai Sho piece to Master Piandao. It will be a long journey to his island, and you must be quick if you are to return in time for the eclipse. I would not trust a messenger hawk for this task.”

Zuko stared at him in disbelief for a moment. “Mater Piandao is here, Uncle,” he said, relieved at the piece of good fortune. “My father ordered him to forge two new swords for me. He’s still in the palace."

“Then you must hurry to meet with him before he leaves. He will know how to contact those who reject your father’s rule.” He looked off into the distance. “What we need above all is Avatar Aang’s sky bison. It must land in the courtyard where we can meet it. Let Master Piandao know it would be best if the rebels also sent the earthbending master Toph Beifong. She could help turn the tide of our escape alongside Master Katara.” He stroked his chin in thought. “It would not hurt to have Master Katara’s brother to aid us as well.”

Zuko nodded. “He _is_ pretty good with that boomerang.”

“Then it’s settled. Finish your task with the Fire Sages tonight and meet with Master Piandao tomorrow. Give him a White Lotus tile. It must be a White Lotus tile, Nephew.”

“A White Lotus tile. I understand, Uncle,” Zuko said.

Iroh smiled. “You do not truly understand what it means quite yet. But you will soon enough.”

That piqued Zuko’s interest, but he simply bowed his head to his uncle. As he took his leave, he tried not to look as relieved around the guards as he felt now that they now had the outline of a plan. It might not be a good idea to go to Katara’s room to tell her the details during the day as he would prefer to do in case they were interrupted. He hated the idea of waiting to reassure her of his loyalty, though. An idea sprang to mind that he intended to put into action as soon as he could.

When he reached the palace, he walked quickly to the gardens and made a beeline to a stand of fire lilies. He chose the prettiest and freshest one he could find and broke the flower off its stem by the dying light of the sun. Gesturing to a servant, he waited until they had drawn close to him before saying in a low voice, “Put this in a box and take it to Master Katara’s room along with some tea. Do not under any circumstances let anyone else see what’s in the box.” He fixed the servant with a glare. “If I hear gossip later, I’ll know who disobeyed my orders.”

The servant paled slightly at Zuko’s ferocity. “Yes, my prince. At once.”

He watched the servant leave, and there was nothing for him to do after that except to wait for midnight. The Fire Sages should be scarce on the grounds by that point, and hopefully there would be one he could follow to enter their compound and access the Catacombs. He vaguely remembered the route from when he’d been a young boy tagging along behind his uncle and his cousin. Azula had shown no interest in visiting the records room, but Zuko had already felt more comfortable around his uncle despite his high status as the general committed to bringing Ba Sing Se to its knees. He’d also looked up to Lu Ten as someone who was much older than him and as someone who was supposed to have a glorious military career in front of him. Despite all that, the man didn’t talk down to his young cousin, and Zuko had always appreciated that.

Now, years later, he needed to rely on those half-formed memories if he was going to learn what had taken place on the previous Day of Black Sun so long ago.

When night fell and midnight approached, he made his way down the path away from the palace, avoiding the glances of the guards by pulling the cowl of a nondescript robe farther over his head to hide his distinctive scar. The disguise seemed to be holding up as he passed a few people on their way home despite the many dimly-glowing lanterns that hung at intervals along the path. It was like a deadly game as he skirted the shadows trying to remain as far out of sight as possible.

His pulse raced as he drew closer and closer to the Temple. He had almost reached it and was crossing a small bridge just in front of the entrance when a voice called out behind him, “You there! Where do you think you’re going?”

Zuko flinched before turning slowly to see a guard walking towards him. He stepped into a particularly shadowy part of the bridge and bowed his head slightly. 

“Just out for a walk, sir,” he said stiffly. Subterfuge wasn’t his strong suit, and he felt himself panicking a little inside. He kept his hands from balling up into fists through sheer effort to appear normal and absolutely harmless.

“A walk?” the guard asked suspiciously before his brow cleared. “I suppose you're one of the Fire Acolytes. Aren’t you all supposed to be inside the Temple by now?”

“Er…yes.” Zuko felt himself on the edge of just cutting his losses, bending his way out of the situation, and making a run for it back to the palace. He should have known this wasn’t going to work. He wracked his brain and said the first words to come into his head. “I was just out with…a girl?” he tried, hoping against hope he wasn’t the first Fire Acolyte to try sneaking in and out of the Temple for a romantic liaison.

The guard looked at him for a long moment before chuckling. “A girl, eh? Well, I guess there’s no harm in that. Hope she was worth getting caught.” He waved Zuko onwards with a wink. “Be on your way, and maybe try the entrance behind the Temple next time.”

“I’ll do that, sir. Thank you,” he said with a little more fervor than was strictly necessary. Turning, he bolted for the shadows of the Temple columns where he could see the outline of a Sage’s tall hat. The last thing he needed was to be caught a second time.

Hiding behind one of the columns decorated with twisting dragons that lined the plaza, he watched as the Fire Sage stood on an ornate circle at the crossroads of four paths. The Sage bent low and performed a bending gesture that made small flames blaze up briefly at six orderly points around the circle. Zuko now remembered how the key worked from seeing it as a boy. The Sage descended the staircase he revealed, and Zuko waited several minutes until he was sure there would be nobody to interrupt him before following.

He performed the bending gesture and was relieved that the floor opened so quietly. Torches lit the stairwell, and he followed the steps to the bottom where they opened out into a long hallway decorated with the skulls of countless dragons. The flames danced in a macabre fashion in their eye sockets and between their sharp teeth. His descent had jogged his memory enough that he knew which hallway to hurry down and which door to open. It had the head of a dragon mounted on it to symbolize the strength of the nation. A Fire Nation symbol rested beneath the dragon’s head.

Zuko took a breath and remembered the sight of his uncle opening the door so many years ago. Bending fire, he pushed the flames into the opening in the symbol, forcing flames through the eye sockets and mouth of the dragon above his head. A brief puff of smoke dissipated into the air before the door slid open, revealing a dark room. A lantern rested on a table just inside the door, and Zuko picked it up, lighting the wick easily. The light revealed row upon row of scrolls lining walls that stretched into the darkness. Crossing his fingers, he hoped they were in chronological order and not organized through some other system that he’d never be able to figure out.

He followed the hall farther and farther until he reached a small pedestal jutting out from the stone wall. A scroll sat there in a box that was marked only with a black circle beginning to cover a white circle. It was dusty, and cobwebs clung to it as he picked it up off the plinth. Checking the years of the other scrolls to either side, he confirmed it was from the Year of the Dragon. 

This was it. The one he had come for. Now he just needed to get back to the palace without anyone noticing him.

Agni’s luck itself seemed to be with him, and he ran into neither guards nor Sages on his way back down the hallway, up the stairs, and across the bridge. He breathed a sigh of relief. If everything went this smoothly on the Day of Black Sun, then they would actually have a chance at escaping the Fire Nation. 

He could only hope this scroll was worth all the trouble it had been to get it. Wanting to share his victory and adventures when he entered the palace, he turned down the hallway to Katara’s rooms. The guards looked up with suspicion on their faces as he approached her door until the moment he lowered his hood.

“Your highness?” one of them asked, obviously confused that his prince was not only visiting their prisoner this late at night, but that he was doing so in disguise.

“Open the door,” he said with the voice that said he wasn’t to be questioned.

“Right away, sir,” the flustered guard replied, pulling the door open without even knocking. 

Zuko looked inside into the dark space, feeling for some reason as if he was about to confront the same kind of danger and uncertainty as in the Fire Sages’ Temple. Hopefully Katara would welcome him as a friend after sending her his message. Otherwise, he had a lot of explaining to do. He gripped the scroll box tighter in his hand and stepped over the threshold and into the dragon’s den.


End file.
